The Cassandra Effect
by CompYES
Summary: She will make them listen to her. A semi-serious attempt at a proactive Self-Insert.
1. Prologue: At Least the Water's New

**Title: **The Cassandra Effect

**Summary: **A child of the green, with roots deep and strong, holding the past and future in either hand. She will make them listen to her, and shake the world as they know it.

**Disclaimer**: Does anyone do these anymore? I don't know, but better safe than sorry. I don't own Naruto or any other fandom I reference.

* * *

**Prologue**: At Least the Water's New

* * *

What happens when a life ends before its time?

Who knows? You never really know when someone dies. They're dead and you're not. All you're left with are "what if"s built up on what you knew of them. What you think they could have done if they were still alive to live out their potential.

Let's take a look at a life. Just to make things interesting, how about we take a look at mine?

Here it is in a brief introduction:

My name? No one really needs to know that. Not anymore. My likes? My mother, cool TV shows, sleeping in, receiving letters, and spending time with my friends. My dislikes? My father and brother teasing me, thinking about my sisters, missing out on opportunities, and people who hurt others. My hobbies? Reading, writing, and going out to movies. My dream? I wanted to be a great teacher who would help children find their own dreams. It wouldn't hurt if I was remembered years down the line as _that teacher _to them.

Kind of boring right? Still, I had potential. I thought I was going somewhere.

By the time I hit twenty, I was pretty damn close to achieving my dream. I'd gotten into a school I really liked and was learning what I needed to start teaching. Sure, there had been obstacles here and there. Mostly, I had to face and overcome my own failings since I wasn't always the best or most motivated student. When it came down to it, however, I worked for my accomplishments. My efforts looked like they were paying off, since I felt smarter and more confident every day. I felt like my dream was close to being real.

Life went on, and I continued making progress.

That was, until I hit an obstacle I couldn't overcome.

Death.

* * *

So I died.

It's better for me that I didn't remember anything about the event. Dying is probably harder than it looks. And I had enough presence of mind to realize that I was well and truly dead. It's easy to come to that conclusion when you're standing a couple of feet away from your fairly lifeless looking body.

(No chain of fate. Heh.)

There are all those clichés about what happens when you kick the bucket, and well, it was a letdown to see there was a tunnel and light waiting for me. Even now, I'm still not totally convinced that's the way everyone sees death.

(I had kind of wanted it to have been a train station. At least a bus stop.)

When I saw that tunnel and understood what it meant, I admit, I hesitated. I didn't like that I had died. I promised my mom I was going to be a teacher. That I was really going to do something with my life. It didn't feel right that I was leaving things unfinished. Was this really where things were supposed to end? Was I really supposed to walk towards the light?

(Game over man, game over.)

I stopped. I stood there for a while, trying to pick between walking towards the tunnel or walking back to my body. Maybe I could be resuscitated or something, if only I stuck with my body long enough. Maybe I could overcome this.

But...

Even though I didn't believe in any one particular religion and what it said about the afterlife, I stood there thinking about it at the end instead of anything else. My family, my friends, my life; they all kind of faded into the background as something else came to the forefront.

Maybe this wasn't something to be overcome.

I could be moving on to something better. Peace. Or reincarnation. Once I let go of this life, I could possibly be walking into a whole new one that I might like better. One with new possibilities, and new dreams. I didn't know for sure if that was what was waiting for me, but I wanted to find out. Life would go on without me in this one.

There was a flutter of guilt in the back of my mind, knowing that I was leaving people who would miss me terribly. A bit of regret over a dream unrealized. It was too late though. I wanted to push forward and see if there was a next adventure. As I walked towards the tunnel, I took a moment to pray. I hadn't been much of prayer, but I doubted it could've hurt me. I prayed for someone, something, to take care of the people I was leaving.

Then suddenly, the ground under my feet crumbled away and I fell. As I fell, I watched as above me the tunnel and the light got farther and farther away. I wondered at first if this was what it was like for Alice to fall into Wonderland. Then I wondered if the tunnel was a test. A test I had failed and was then sent to hell for or something. That would have been unfortunate. I'd been confident I hadn't done anything in life to warrant hell in the one after.

For a long time I fell, until I hit the water.

It turned out it wasn't hell. The water was the first sign. Too wet for hell.

It wasn't Wonderland either. There were no talking doors and the water wasn't a sea of tears.

I wondered for an almost timeless period what kind of place it was that I'd ended up in. I drifted aimlessly in the water, reaching and kicking out but nothing happened. Was this really what happened when you died? No reincarnation, no heaven or hell? Just water? I walked into that cliché tunnel of light for this?

Lame. So lame.

Until suddenly lame didn't seem so bad when I was sucked down into some sort of whirlpool. No amount of thrashing helped me. There was nothing to grab and hold to resist being flushed out. I didn't like this. I was scared. I had been bored earlier, but this was scary. Whatever this was, it wasn't worth it because I wasn't ready.

I screamed.

I screamed and screamed.

I screamed until I couldn't scream anymore. And that was the weird thing. My throat actually hurt. It hadn't hurt to yell things before, in what I had called Waterworld, when I got too bored. Why did things suddenly hurt again? Actually, why was I feeling things again? I felt... weak. And cold. And I couldn't see anything. Everything was too bright. Or had it been too dark in Waterworld?

Then there were sounds. Everything in Waterworld had sounded so warped. Like far away echoes. Everything here was much clearer. There was an odd beeping noise. Then there was the rustling of fabric. And most importantly, there were voices.

People.

For as long as I'd been in Waterworld, I'd been alone. Starved for human contact.

I tried to speak, tried to catch their attention, but nothing coherent came out. It was just a babble of sounds. There was... something wrong with my mouth. It felt gummy and unresponsive. My lips wouldn't form the right shapes and my tongue just lay in my mouth like a dead fish. I could make all the sounds I wanted to, but they wouldn't be the sounds I needed to communicate.

Something interrupted me during my failed attempts to speak. I was vaguely conscious of movement again. Particularly, conscious of my body being moved. My eyes had started to get used to seeing things, to the point where I could at least makeout shadows against the light. There were several ones that moved near me. At first, I was excited when they came closer. Those shadows, I had rationalized, were probably people.

Then they got too close. They were too big. The shadows reached out and grabbed for me. They were so large and I was so weak, I couldn't fight them if I tried. I was passed about and manhandled. The longer it went on, the dizzier and more upset I got, but I was too afraid to cry. I didn't want them to have a reason to do anything worse to me.

Eventually, they stopped jostling me around. I was passed to one last shadow. This shadow was the one I preferred out of all the shadow giants since it held me very gently, cradled in its warm shadow limbs. It made soft, soothing noises that calmed me.

There were... other noises. Words?

_Biwako..._

For the life of me, I couldn't discern any of it. Something was wrong. Not just with my sight. Not just with my mouth. Not just because of the giants.

_Nanako..._

Why couldn't I think?

_Hiruzen..._

My thoughts tried to punch through the cloud of cotton settling over my mind, tried to develop, tried for complexity. It was all in vain. I felt everything starting to blank. Start to go away.

I was going away.

* * *

**AN**: So I've joined the SI bandwagon. As soon as I'm done posting this, I'll probably go off to cackle somewhere. And then maybe cry. I was inspired to write this by two authors, Silver Queen and my friend ToeGirth, and their respective SI stories Dreaming of Sunshine and An Everlasting Flame. This story is dedicated to ToeGirth who has been kind enough to talk to me through my brainstorming. I'd also like to give thanks to my beta Lone Panda, who (THANK GOD) will be helping me with this story. This is my first fic for Naruto, and I'm working with disjointed understanding of the fandom thanks to my obsessive trawling of Narutopedia and Youtube for Shippuden clips. The first chapter will be up in about a week to a week and a half from now.

One last thing before I go. The many references I made to different things. Yeah. That's probably going to be a recurring thing for me. Sorry. I'm a geek.

Toodles!


	2. Chapter One: In the World of Supermen

**Chapter One:** In the World of Supermen

* * *

Growing up and being mostly conscious of it is probably the most humiliating and frustrating thing to have to live through. When you're a baby, you can't do anything but eat, sleep, defecate, cry, and maybe roll around a bit if you're lucky and bored. I hated crying because all it did was make me tired, and more upset because it hurt my eyes and my throat. So I avoided crying as much as possible. The only acceptable times to cry, I had decided, were when I was hungry or needed to be changed. It surprised Biwako, my new mother as I'd learned to accept slowly, since she was a medic nin who worked in the maternity ward. Even I knew it wasn't normal for a baby to be as quiet and (sort of) behaved as I was, but I didn't care.

My primary goal was sorting things out. It took some time because my brain couldn't keep up with my ambitions. I kept exhausting myself out even trying to think in small bits. Not only that, but my thoughts were incredibly fuzzy at first. It was there in the back of my mind, everything was, but it was like I was stuck for a long time. Whenever I tried too hard to tap my old memories, it was like star bursts went off behind my eyes and someone was trying to stab me in the brain with needles.

The first time I did that, I shrieked for three minutes straight and spent hours after whimpering piteously in misery. It had scared my parents enough to get me examined by two other med nins besides my own mother to try and figure out what was wrong. Thankfully, they didn't find anything wrong. After that, I didn't try any deep thought or remembering for at least a year. I worked my way up to it by simply considering surface thoughts and passing feelings as they occurred to me. Once I'd worked my cognitive functions into a satisfactory state, I started trying to puzzle out this world I'd ended up in. Not that I didn't already know my fair share about this world.

I knew this was the world of Naruto.

(Although it could've been some sort of Naruto convention where everyone took cosplaying to the extreme.)

Things might have been more obvious if there had been a spiky blond haired kid running around screaming "dattebayo" all over the place. It might have also made my life easier if the little punk was in fact running around, because then at least I'd better be able to judge just when in this world I'd landed and what was going on.

See, the thing was that Naruto didn't even exist in his own world yet. How I knew that? Well, all I had to do was look at the faces of my new father and his students to figure that out. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, the Professor, the God of Shinobi, the Old Man, was my father. He was also, astonishingly, not an old man but a fairly young one. They all were very young. My eyes nearly popped out of my tiny skull when I saw the teenage Orochimaru with them for the first time. (Ew... His skin really was that pale...) It was hard, being in the same room as the guy, knowing what he would do.

Basically, I knew that if people who were pushing their fifties in the show looked like teenagers now, the primary Naruto cast weren't even twinkles in their parents' eyes yet. Dear God, their parents might not even have been born yet. With how young Jiraiya was, it certainly seemed possible Naruto's weren't.

When I tried harder to remember what was happening around this time, I really started getting worried by how little I did know. My mental cataloging of the time line started with breaking it into two parts: BN (Before Naruto) where I was now, and AN (After Naruto) which was the time period covered extensively by the manga and anime. I had a vague knowledge of previous wars, of which I knew there were three. The first had happened when my father was younger than he was already, during the formative years of Konoha. So that left me with living through the events of the second and the third.

I wasn't going to even bother thinking about what would happen in AN, because was it even possible for me to survive, as civilian or ninja, that long? Knowing my luck, I'd probably survive the wars only to end up being Kyuubi chow. Seriously. How did these people deal with all this impending doom?

It also made me wonder about what I was feeling.

I wasn't really afraid of dying in this world, honestly. And sure, I would have preferred living peacefully, maybe having another go at the teaching thing someday. However, was that a practical plan in this world? Especially considering who I was?

And who was I really?

It was very strange, having spent almost two decades as an average person in a world of technology, and then suddenly being reborn as the daughter of one of the most important people in the world of ninja. I was afraid of the uncertainty, of the change. Where I spent most of one life fearing being alone, being unhappy, this new world had new problems I'd have to deal with before I could even start thinking of things as trivial as happiness or companionship. The only things the two worlds seemed to have in common were horrible wars and shitty politics.

Except in this world, wars were fought by men with superpowers instead of by men with machines.

Agonizing over my existential crisis kept me busy for years. My new parents were constantly driven to worry by how silent and moody I would be. It made me feel sorry for them. They were probably expecting their first child to be normal. A child that would be a joy to have despite the natural troubles that came with raising children. Instead, they got me, a child that kept exhibiting disturbing behaviors and rarely expressed any care for them. I tried for some semblance of normalcy for their sakes but couldn't deliver.

I knew the reputation of these people who were supposed to be my family. Killers. Hell, my father was supposed to be the so called god of killers. My mother was a medic nin, but her hands could take life just as easily as they could save it. Then there were the Sannin, my "uncles" and "auntie". They didn't have that title yet, but who knew what else they'd already done?

Over time, I think they all realized at one point or another that they made me uncomfortable. Touch didn't soothe me; in fact, I was agitated when they tried to hold me. I was the bare minimum of obedient when I needed to be fed, changed or clothed so interaction lasted for as little time as possible. As soon as I had developed my motor skills enough to drag myself, then crawl, then walk, I'd a find a nook easily accessible to a child, but hard to reach for an adult, and squeeze myself into it. I'd only leave it when I needed to relieve myself or eat the food they'd leave out on the other side of the house as a blatant ploy to lure me out of my hiding place.

The relationship between my parents and myself during that time could have been likened to that of pet owners trying and failing to get their particularly anti-social cat to warm up to them.

Only, since I was their child as opposed to a pet, my rejection stung them a million times worse.

That distance I put between myself and them only became more obvious when my mother gave birth to another child. His name was Aito, and unlike me, he was born perfectly normal. He giggled when they played peek-a-boo with him, cuddled into their arms as they held him, and cried over anything just to get attention. My parents loved it. It felt like a slap to the face when I puzzled out the meaning of his name. _Affection_. My parents had named their newest child for a quality they desperately wished from him. What they'd always wanted from me but I'd stubbornly refused to give them out of my own discomfort.

Guilt overpowered any hurt feelings I had. I remembered how I'd been the one to make the decision to leave behind my old life for a new one. Why had I been so quick to discard that excitement and acceptance?

Fear.

It had been fear, not of the unknown, but of what I did know. Who was I, really, to judge these people based on that? Just because I had a superficial knowledge of their world and of them didn't mean I understood. Even if I didn't like it, I should have respected the fact that ninja were part of their culture. The existence of ninja was vital to this world. They served not only as assassins but as protectors to the people who depended on them. While I knew people like Orochimaru would go bad (and even then, did I _really _know that?), others like my father and Jiraiya had dedicated their lives to peace, even in a world built on violence and deception. They cared so much they had sacrificed their lives for it.

And I'd spent the last year and a half spitting on that, wrapped up in my internal prejudice.

I was officially an idiot.

That was when I decided to start making things right.

* * *

I think I gave my mother a heart attack the day I crept into the nursery and sat at her feet as she rocked Aito. Which was strange. She was a ninja. She should have sensed my presence long before I'd announced myself.

"Nanako, what are you doing here?" she asked, grimacing a moment later at how surprised and suspicious she'd sounded.

There'd been a time in the beginning that she'd really tried to mother me. She still tried, but not with nearly the same fervor and sweetness she had before. As a baby, my grumpy expressions and babbles had been something to coo over. When I became a sullen and avoidant toddler, and my babbles became just monosyllabic responses when addressed, it was less cute. I stopped being her little Nana-chan and just became Nanako. She started treating me more like the little adult I acted like I was.

I tried to smile like I hadn't noticed her tone. My smile weakened a little more at how stunned she became at my smile, but I pushed on, pointing a stubby finger at the baby.

"Aito," I said, pausing at how squeaky I sounded. There was a reason I didn't speak much, "May I... see... my otouto?"

I wanted to facepalm.

Another reason I didn't talk was because I was borderline illiterate in Japanese thanks to being asocial.

After a moment, she nodded, reached down, and pulled me up into her lap. I fought the urge to squirm out of her grasp. I promised I would make an effort for all of them and I was going to follow through with it. She pulled me in so I was snuggled into one side of her while Aito was tucked into her arm on her other side. It gave me a good look at him.

There was nothing very special about Aito at first glance from any other baby. He was swathed in a beige blanket, and all I could see of him was his pudgy face poking out of it. His eyes were brown and drooped shut every now and then despite the fact that he was trying very desperately to stay awake and see who had come to visit him. There was the smallest bit of hair on the top of his head, standing up in such a way that it foreshadowed the messy spikes he'd one day possess thanks to his father.

Something shifted the minute he managed to open his eyes wide enough to stare back into mine. I know it was probably normal for a baby, but he looked at me like I was the most important thing in the world. I didn't remember my little brother's birth from my last life. If he had turned such wondering, guileless eyes on me, I would have been unable to ever fight with him. It was like everything went away as I looked at this baby, my little brother. Who looked at me like I meant something, everything, to him.

The moment didn't last long. A yawn pushed through his tiny mouth, his eyes slipped shut for good, and he dozed off. I took that opportunity to reach out and touch him. His head was soft and warm and so small, even in my own small hand. Such small ears, such a small nose. I made sure to be very careful because I knew my mother was scared I could hurt him if I got too rough. There was no need to worry though. I wouldn't hurt him. I'd protect him. I'd love him.

This was my baby brother.

I stopped my petting and looked up at my mother who stared down at the two of us in awe. I pushed myself to give her another smile.

"Made him... perfect, Kaasan," I spoke softly to her, "Thank you."

My mother chose that moment to burst into tears.

Let me say this: just because I'm female doesn't mean I'm any better at soothing crying women than a man would be.

In a panic, I scrambled away and went running down the hall to my father's study where he spent an hour or two around this time of day sifting through paperwork and smoking. The minute he saw me, he was out from behind his desk and kneeling before me, asking what was wrong.

"Kaasan," I panted, short of breath from my hall sprint, "I don't know... what I did... now she…!"

I mimed frantic tear tracks down my cheeks hoping he'd get it.

He scooped me up into his arms and moved us quickly back to the nursery. My mother was still crying, but the minute she saw the two of us with our panicked and confused faces, she started laughing really hard.

"Biwako, what's going on?" my father asked, bewildered as he looked back and forth between her face and mine, as she tried to quell her laughing.

"It's nothing, dear," she said, using the back of her free hand to wipe the lingering tears from her eyes as she continued to chuckle. "Nanako just _thanked _me for _making _Aito."

He blinked. And then a goofy smile spread across his face and he nodded in understanding. His eyes fell back on me, and I shrunk under his gaze a fraction but maintained eye contact.

"Well, it was very nice of you to thank your mother, Nanako," he told me, smiling at me before looking at my mother again. "Have I ever thanked you for making Aito, Biwako?"

"I don't recall if you have," she replied playfully. "But I certainly wouldn't mind if you did now."

"It's horrible of me to have shown so little appreciation to you," he bemoaned dramatically. He moved to her side and dropped one of the arms he was using to hold me so he could lay a hand on her cheek. "Thank you love, for making both of our precious children."

I knew I was being mocked, but I didn't care, since my eyes decided to start watering and my lips started to wobble. I hid my face in my father's neck and willed myself not to cry. I think my parents could sense I was having an emotional moment and did their best to soothe me.

Soon, I was practically falling asleep in my father's arms, feeling drained by everything. My child's brain probably wasn't used to that kind of emotional strain yet. I barely stayed conscious long enough to feel him carry me to my bedroom and tuck me into bed. It had been a while since either of my parents had done that for me, since I had let them. Feeling bold, they each bent down and kissed my forehead and my heart ached at the sensation I thought I'd never feel again. They whispered their goodnights and left me with my chest full of twisty warmth.

That night had only solidified my wish to do right by my new family.

My family who called me precious.

How could I have known then, that my simple wish had damned me?

* * *

I had one more year of uninterrupted childhood. In that time, I spent most of it trying to be an actual child. It was easy to be a kid, now that I had Aito to spend time with. The more childish and doting I was with him, the more giggles and toothless smiles I got.

We'd go out the the garden with whoever was babysitting us and if I could talk them into it, I'd get them to give Aito pretend airplane rides through the air. He'd shriek with joy and flail his arms until he was deposited back onto the ground with an exhausted sigh. I think those moments may have been the most content moments I'd ever had in either life.

My parents, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were bewildered by my sudden attitude change. They were all smart enough to be suspicious of such a drastic change in personality, but I think my parents were too happy to question it. I was young enough to rationalize my previous "weirdness" as a phase.

Jiraiya was the first of my father's students to take advantage of my new found friendliness. He'd visit a lot and would play funny games with Aito and me. Even if it made me feel foolish to play kiddy games, I appreciated it when people took time to spend with us no matter what we were doing.

I think I liked him most though, because he would sit with me and show me how to speak and read in Japanese after I mustered up the courage to ask someone for help. I felt like I was seeing echoes of the future, when he'd write his own little short stories in his horrible handwriting and share them with me to help me learn. Nothing like the Icha Icha series, but it was a start. I couldn't wait for the day he'd write the Legend of the Gutsy Ninja

(I promised I'd be the first to own a copy.)

Orochimaru always brought a box of dango when he visited as a bribe. Genius he was, it had been easy for him to pick up on the fact I tended to favor the chadango sticks. He started getting more of those each time, thinking he was subtle. One time, I'd opened the dango box and found only chadango. When I looked to him, he gave me what I thought was a wink with his strange yellow eye.

(I made an effort to thank him politely instead of running away.)

Being around Tsunade proved to be as complicated as being around Orochimaru, for different reasons.

Every time Tsunade came by, she was usually brought company. And that company tended to be either her boyfriend Dan or her little brother Nawaki, who was currently attending the Academy. The first couple times I saw them, my chest would seize up and it felt like I couldn't breathe. It wasn't just knowing that they would die that made me so upset. It was knowing how little time there was before they would die. Knowing how their deaths would affect Tsunade. Knowing how much she would grieve for them, how her grief would turn to bitterness towards Konoha.

This Tsunade was different from that Tsunade, and different even from the Tsunade that was touched by Naruto. She was happy. She was in love. She loved. She was just so vibrant in her youth and innocence. And Dan and Nawaki were key in keeping her this way.

It wasn't hard to see why.

Dan was charming and kind, and loved Tsunade just as much she loved him. Together, they shared the dream of creating a better Konoha that deserved the chance to be fulfilled.

Looking at Tsunade and Nawaki was like looking at my relationship in my old life with _my _little brother. Sometimes it seemed like all they did was bicker and tease one another. However, when you stepped away from that, you saw how devoted they were to one another, how Nawaki admired his sister and Tsunade supported her brother's dreams.

I know it was really silly of me and I don't know why I thought it was supposed to have helped anything. Still, I felt like I had to try something. And at the time, what I'd had in mind had seemed like a good idea.

So I did something.

* * *

It was evening in the summer several months after Aito's birth and Tsunade and Nawaki had decided to come out for dinner with my family. That was when I made my move.

"Tsunade-hime?" I whispered as I approached her on our way out.

She stumbled as she took a step, stopped, and then stared down at me, looking as if she felt like she'd just imagined me speaking.

"Um... piggyback ride?" I tried for bashful puppy dog eyes.

For a moment she was stunned and disbelieving, then her lips quirked up at the ends. _Step one, success. _She stooped and let me climb onto her back and let my arms circle her neck. Then her arms went underneath my legs, making sure I was secure.

"And away we go!" she cheered to me.

I couldn't help a giggle at Tsunade bubbliness. There was a bounce in her step as she carried me. Nawaki ran circles around us talking all about his day at the Academy and how he'd totally beat the Hyuuga kid next time they did class spars. My parents followed the three of us at a more sedate pace. Aito had been left with a nanny for the night, and while I usually stayed at home with him, I had something important to do tonight.

"Race!" I suddenly exclaimed, craning forward so I could look at Tsunade pleadingly.

A devilish smirk touched her lips.

"Good idea Nanako," she said slyly. "I bet we'll beat the brat there by a mile."

"Oi!" Nawaki squawked, "No way I'm gonna let you beat me there nee-chan!"

"Oh yeah, shorty?" Tsunade taunted, "See you when you come in last at the finish line then! And don't worry, we'll try not to eat all of the food before you get there!" She paused and fell into a crouch. "Hold on tight Nanako!"

I didn't even have to pretend I was frightened at the fact we were now soaring through the air, bounding from rooftop to rooftop. The way ninjas jumped, it was as if gravity didn't matter. It reminded me of John Carter and how the difference between Earth's gravity and Mars' had been so different, on Mars a normal Earth step was like a jump on a trampoline. It was magical and thrilling experiencing it now.

But if I fell off of Tsunade, I was going to scream bloody murder before I became a smear on the pavement.

My arms tightened a bit around her neck, and as she was busy throwing insults over her shoulder at Nawaki, who was doing his best to catch up, my fist clenched the cord around her neck and pulled. It came loose and I waited anxiously for a reaction. Nothing. The blonde kept arguing with her brother and keeping several paces ahead of him despite the fact that they could have left him in the dust a while ago. As inconspicuously as possible, I tucked my prize into the pouch I kept in the sleeve of my kimono. _Step two, success. _I then let out a whoop and urged Tsunade to go faster. Grinning, she did, and Nawaki let out a cry of frustration from where he was far behind us.

It turned out to be a mostly fun night after that.

Tsunade and I were as thick as thieves once the race was finished and we had declared ourselves the uncontested winners. We enjoyed our victory during dinner while Nawaki pouted. My parents watched it all with fond smiles, and ordered Nawaki a little extra dessert to soothe his bruised ego. Just as our group was ready to part ways and head for home, Tsunade gave a cry of distress. My parents and I turned to see what was wrong. Her hands grabbed at her throat, the collar of her white top, and then traveled down her body as she patted herself down.

"What is it Tsunade?" my father asked her, concerned.

"Tsu-nee-chan can't find grandpa's necklace!" Nawaki exclaimed, looking as upset as Tsunade did.

My dad frowned. He understood the significance of the necklace to the Senju siblings.

"Can you remember the last time you had it?" he asked her gently.

"I know I put it on this morning!" Tsunade answered, tears in her eyes, "I think I had it on when I sparred with Sakumo-san earlier today too. I just don't know where I could have lost it."

That was my cue. Step three of the plan.

"Tsunade-hime. My fault," I said, my voice full of regret, "During racing. Pulled it loose. I was trying to hold on. I-I'm s-sorry."

The guilt I felt was real, just not for the reason she thought I felt guilty. Tsunade melted when she saw my eyes water and my lip wobble. She knelt down before me and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"I know you're sorry Nanako. I was going pretty fast, so I don't blame you for getting scared. I can put in a D-Rank mission for a genin team to try and find it for me."

"But what if they don't?" I sniffled.

"Then I'll get over it." She managed a sad, but reassuring smile for me.

"I'll help too," I promised, "Look every day!"

"Thank you Nanako," she said gratefully, and then pulled me into a hug, "I appreciate that."

_Step three, deflect any suspicion, success._

We all said our goodbyes again, Tsunade stopping to give me another hug and Nawaki patting me on my head, and finally went our separate ways for the night.

It wasn't until my parents had tucked me in and gone to bed themselves that I got up again and went to retrieve the pouch. I pulled it out of the kimono sleeve and dumped its contents out into my palm. There, sitting in my hand, was the First Hokage's necklace. I felt bad about taking the necklace from Tsunade, who cared very much for the memento of her grandfather. Still, I was superstitious enough to try anything at this point, to keep Dan and Nawaki alive. I'd hold onto it until I was sure it was safe enough to return to Tsunade. Like after the second war.

On second thought, I probably shouldn't return it to her _until _she became the Hokage.

(_If _she ever does.)

I pulled the loose floorboard from under my bed up, and pulled out the box I kept there. It had been my secret place for the last six months now. In the box were some crudely drawn pictures and papers with lines and funny symbols on them. They would look like nothing to an adult who was perusing them with only mild interest. Someone looking hard enough would realize that the drawings, if looked at right, the lines and symbols were a code. In English. More often than not words had been swapped out for symbols that looked innocent enough. Foxes, toads, monkeys, trees, tadpoles, rainclouds.

This messy collection of drawing and scribbles was in fact my recording of everything I knew or recalled of the Naruto show and manga time lines. I knew the longer I stayed alive here, the more vital it would be to remember the events to come. I hadn't quite made a choice yet on whether I was going to try and take an active role in changing anything, but I could at least make sure I was prepared for when certain events would unfold.

I lifted the necklace so that the glimmering green stone was at my eye level.

This had been my first test at seeing if I could change something. It was a small change and could possibly do nothing in the long run towards saving Dan and Nawaki's lives. But I could hope. And I could continue trying to help in whatever ways I could.

A creaking somewhere in the house startled me. Quickly, I dropped the necklace into the pouch, put the pouch into the box, and then hid it all safely back under the floorboard before I skittered back into bed. As I began to drift off, I made plans for dragging my mother and Aito into the village at some point so I could find something to give to Tsunade as a temporary replacement for her necklace.

It would certainly go a long way towards soothing my guilty conscience.

* * *

My entire plan concerning Dan and Nawaki didn't end with the necklace.

The second war came upon the village not long after my fourth year in the ninja world. While my parents never explicitly told me war was happening, it was easy to tell considering how rare it was to see my father's students around the village those days. Seeing any ninja higher than genin rank these days was rare. Those three were probably being deployed to the front lines since they were some of Konoha's strongest ninja. I was always scared they wouldn't come home, but I reassured myself that they were strong and that at least Jiraiya and Tsunade were looking out for each other.

(Although it was weird to admit that after four years of observing Orochimaru, I had seen no obvious evidence of the crazy, homicidal body stealer he was meant to become. Other than his overabundance of arrogance, snake fetish, and horrible fashion sense. He actually seemed to care about my father and his teammates. And he was nice to me, which only made it weirder, and made me actually feel bad for being so creeped out by him on the inside.)

Nawaki had turned twelve around the same time I had turned four and had been rushed through graduation to genin rank not long after that due to the war increasing the demand for more ninja. I stressed myself out thinking about how unprepared he probably was because of that. However, I reminded myself that there was no way I could demand for Nawaki to be held back just because I was afraid he would die. People would just laugh at me and tell me that people died every damn day.

So I found other ways to help Nawaki. I practically stalked him whenever his genin team was in the village. I'd cheer him on during training, pester him into reading me a book on theoretical mission strategy, and give him gifts like storage scrolls, spools of ninjawire, smoke bombs, or medpacks. It was all meant to subtly make him more prepared for whatever he would face while out on missions.

His teammates, an Akimichi boy and a girl from some clan I wasn't familiar with, teased him ruthlessly, misunderstanding what I was doing as the behaviors of a little girl with a huge crush. Nawaki, bless his heart, took it in stride. He simply claimed that they were jealous they didn't have fans yet and then he'd give me a grin and pat my head as I'd stand there in mortification, sputtering and red.

So after sorting out Nawaki, I turned my focus on Dan.

Which had me knocking my head into a wall trying to figure out how I could save him. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru at least were all together. Who did Dan have? I had no idea, and I couldn't trust just anyone to protect Tsunade's boyfriend. Not only that, I didn't know when he was supposed to be killed. His death came after Nawaki's, but if I had put off Nawaki's death, then how was I to know when Dan's would come?

The largest obstacle I ran into turned out to be my lack of familiarity with the man. I was just the daughter of his girlfriend's teacher when she had been a genin. It was better than being completely unrelated, but seriously, how did I associate with him in a way that wouldn't be awkward? Nawaki had been easy because he was a kid. All I'd done was walk up to him and ask him to be my friend and boom, instant friendship. My mother, who became ecstatic over every social interaction I had with anyone, vehemently _encouraged _the relationship and spending time with him. I didn't have that kind of advantage with Dan.

I just... didn't know what to do about him. There wasn't anything I could do. Like Nawaki, Dan would fight for his village no matter what anyone said. You could tell him to be careful all you wanted, but in the end, it would make no difference either way.

Dan could be poisoned or disemboweled by puppets on the Suna front. Dan could be crushed by boulders or buried alive fighting Iwa. Dan could get hit by wildly thrown kunai and bleed out in a puddle in Ame.

The point was, Dan was a ninja. Ninjas died every day in whatever gruesome way they did. He chose this path, and if he was a good ninja and extremely lucky, he wouldn't be killed. Nawaki, who was just a sweet boy with big dreams, who I thought I had already helped, could still die as well no matter what I did.

When I came to that realization, I started crying for the first time in a long time. My father who had been in the room at the same time, came over at once to see what was wrong with me.

"I don't..." I sniffled. "I just..." I hiccuped. "I don't want anyone to die!" I sobbed.

All he could do was pull me into his arms so I could bury my face in his shirt and not have to look at the sad expression on his face.

* * *

It had been growing inside of me for a long time.

This unease.

Different from what I'd felt before when I was simply scared of everything and everyone. Now that I wasn't scared of them, I'd become scared _for_them. My family, for the moment, was safe. As Hokage, my father would be home and wouldn't be sent out to the battlefield unless things became truly dire. He was strong and I had faith in him to come home to us if that ever happened. I saw less of my mother lately since she was busy running the hospital without Tsunade's assistance, constantly healing ninja coming home damaged beyond belief. However, I also knew she too would at least be home for that very reason. Then there was Aito. Sweet Aito, who was too young and too far away from everything to understand any of this. I could probably sit and tell him all about the fighting and suffering going on out there and he'd just blink at me with his wide curious brown eyes and then wordlessly demand playtime.

The problem was that there were others I now cared for.

Where my little island had started with just me, it had been forced to grow a bit to accept my family in. Then others had come and invaded my space as well. There was Jiraiya and Tsunade. Then there was Dan and Nawaki. I'd come to hesitantly include Nawaki's team, Chouzu, Meiko, Kanda-sensei, and even Orochimaru, whose current humanity still baffled me. I couldn't shake my attachment to any of them, and as I grew to care more about them, I grew to care about who they cared about. Everyone had loved ones. Everyone had people they didn't want to lose. These bonds tied all these people together.

Bonds were both great and terrible things.

If anyone stopped to think about it, most of the things that would go wrong in the far off future would be because broken bonds had driven people mad. Itachi and Sasuke's bond. Kabuto and Nonou's. Nagato and Yahiko's. There were so many others motivated towards madness thanks to the love they had for another.

However, I reminded myself, there was a light in the darkness.

There would be Naruto.

Naruto, who made strong, unshakable bonds. Who inspired people to rise above their pain and misery. To fight for peace. I'd been skeptical once. How could one person, one little spiky blond haired idiot with a chip on his shoulder and a demon in his belly, change people's hearts like that? How could he fix the world?

The answer lay in my own mind.

It's called a God complex, thinking you can control events, control people. That you are above failure. Not even God can fix the world.

Even with a veritable guidebook to the world of ninja inside my brain, I couldn't fix everything that was broken. I was only one girl and there was only so much I could do even with the resources I had.

There was one thing that I did have, though.

Love.

My father had tried to tell me many a time about the Will of Fire. That love, love for one's village, would make you strong. I didn't know if I believed in that, because I certainly didn't have love for the village like he did. I had, however, come to love him, and my mother, and Aito, and the people I'd become close to in this life. Love had always come easy to me when I had been someone else. It seemed even now as Nanako Sarutobi, even if I hesitated at the cliff, the minute I allowed myself to love, I would leap even if there wasn't steady ground on the other side to land on. It was dangerous, but I couldn't help it. I loved and I could believe in that love.

That love for my friends and family would help me weather the future that became more and more uncertain as my resolve locked me into my chosen path.

Steeling myself, I lifted my fist and knocked on the door. I heard the person inside the room murmur a quiet "come in", and then I let myself in. My father was seated behind his desk wearing his official robes, though he left the hat off to one side. The surface before him was covered in paperwork. He seemed so weary as he looked at me, the lines around his eyes, mouth, and forehead more prominent. Still, he lit up when he saw me.

This would not be an easy conversation. I pitied him for having to have it in such a state. It had to be now though. I could not allow myself to lose my nerve.

No more necklace stealing. No more chasing around genin marching off to war. If I was resolved to change things, I couldn't keep going about it the way I had been with negligible little things here and there.

"Tousan. I have something important to tell you."

"Oh?"

I couldn't fix the world, but I could try my hardest to make it better, to take some of the burden off of Naruto's shoulders when his time came. I owed it to him as much as I owed it to the people I loved.

* * *

**AN: **I'm going to attempt to only make comments on the chapter since I have a bad habit of getting sidetracked in my ANs. To start, the dreaded infancy, toddlerhood and childhood parts of this story. Yeah, I'm going to blow through those because I am an impatient bidoof. Nanako's pretty much already four by the end of this chapter. I tried to do some justice to the mental and physical development of children, but it was a little half-assed. I'm still laughing to myself at how I've rendered her mildly illiterate because she's scared to talk to people. I'm going to endeavor to make Orochimaru less of the butt of my jokes and jabs in the future, but he makes it _so easy. _Um... what else is there... foreshadowing, I do it? I'm probably going to be dropping foreshadowing comments throughout this story because I technically wrote the end before I even started at the beginning, because I'm an ass-backwards writer. OH WELL.

The next chapter will be up in about a week and a half to two weeks. Hope y'all are well.


	3. Chapter Two: Of Meetings and Memories

**Chapter Two:** Of Meetings and Memories

* * *

"What is it Nanako?"

I suddenly felt scared. I'd already thought it over, weighed the pros and cons of this decision. If I told my father what I knew, I could end up signing myself over to T & I for an extended stay. My entire plan was hanging on the hope that, because I was his daughter, he'd at least try to take me seriously. It was as important as it was risky.

However, in my heart, I knew the real reason why doing this scared me so much.

This man was my father. I'd had another in my other life, but I was at peace with the fact that I had my time with him. Hiruzen Sarutobi was my father now, and I actually gave a damn about how he felt about me. Once I told him everything, would our relationship change? Would he think of me differently for what I knew?

I swallowed dryly and then smacked my cheeks.

(Focus.)

I paused, then looked up at my father who was patiently watching my antics with amused, tired eyes.

"Dad. I have something to tell you about the future." One of his eyebrows rose. "I know what will happen. Sort of."

Both eyebrows.

"What do you mean by that?"

"I know things about the future. I've seen them." Unconsciously, the first thing I thought of was him sealing Orochimaru's arms. It made me choke on the breath I was taking. "Really bad things are coming." He looked at me skeptically. I tried to think of something relevant that would happen in the near future that would get the point across to him. "Someone is going to... attack... Uzushiogakure. Destroy it."

The amusement that had been present in his expression before evaporated, and was quickly replaced with startling sharpness. I flinched as he leaned forward, his eyes cutting into me.

"That is a very serious claim, Nanako. What proof do you have that what you are saying is true? That something so horrible will happen to our allies?"

"I don't have any proof I can give you." Inwardly, I was cursing. Taking me at face value apparently wasn't going to pan out. I reached up and tapped my forehead. "It's all in here. A Yamanaka can look at my mind and see if I'm telling the truth."

His eyes had gone wide with disbelief. Whether it was from surprise that I was willing to let a Yamanaka mind walk me or that I knew the Yamanaka's had that ability even when I shouldn't, I couldn't discern. I stood firm, and tried to convey to him how much I needed him to believe me.

"For now, that isn't necessary," he finally said, his mouth set in a flat line. "I want you to tell me everything you've _seen_."

_For now._

This was a test then. He wanted me to prove I was trustworthy by telling him everything first and then verify my truthfulness through the Yamanaka. It was a smart strategy, and I couldn't blame him for making sure I wasn't yanking his chain. However, I'd been hoping not to have to explain anything about my reincarnation.

Explaining my reincarnation would be difficult. I didn't just have a past life from this world, I had a past life from _another world_ where this one was a story. I'd be explaining to someone that their entire existence served as someone else's fiction. I'm not sure how _I _would feel about that. Now that I was living this life, I understood it for the horrible violation it was. To have your most private moments played out for people's entertainment. To have information you considered vital, that you would die for, was nothing more than a mere detail in the plot.

I already felt squeamish letting one Yamanaka sift through my thoughts and memories, even when I knew he'd be professional about it. Now I had to tell my father he was a storybook character hundreds of people from my old world had read about.

Whose _death by suicide jutsu to stop his own student _was common knowledge to those hundreds of people.

There was no good way to go about explaining all of it, so I took a deep breath, opened my mouth, and just let it all gush out.

If I didn't know I was saying everything willingly, I would have accused him or somebody else of slipping me some sort of truth serum. I was really telling him everything, right from the beginning: my past life, my reincarnation, reading and watching Naruto. All of it in my broken speech.

My words became hysterical once I hit my stride talking about Naruto's birth and how the masked man _had killed mom _and released the Kyuubi on Konoha. Through my entire telling, my father had been silent as the grave, his face deathly pale. When I reached the part with the Akatsuki making their move on the jinchuuriki and Hidan killing Asuma - _my not yet born baby brother _- he lifted his hand in a halting motion, his eyes tightly shut.

"Stop."

I blinked, halfway through talking about Shikamaru taking revenge and Kurenai giving birth to her child - _maybe my one day niece or nephew _- and shut my mouth with a click.

"Do things get worse after that?"

"Yes."

I refrained from elaborating. Elaborating meant having to tell him someone else we were both close to would also die, that his precious village would be brought to the edge of destruction by one man, and soon after Konoha would find itself plunged into another war against the violated bodies of our dead loved ones. If he didn't want to hear about it from me, I'd leave it to the Yamanaka to look over. I certainly didn't like thinking about it, let alone speaking about it.

"I know after everything you've already told me, I shouldn't still be curious, but where were you in this supposed future?" he asked, sighing.

"I wasn't. I'm not... supposed to... exist."

"What?" His eyes snapped to mine.

I quailed under his gaze and eventually had to look away. I found myself looking out the window of his office. Surprisingly, it was dark. It had been light out when I'd first set out to come talk to him. Had I really been talking for that long?

"In the story, you and Mom only had two kids. And I wasn't... one of them. I don't know where I should have ended up... when I died, but this shouldn't have been where I... landed. Not with the... memories of the other life. Or of this place. But if I can make any... difference, I will. I'm going to change it."

"Why?"

"Huh?" I said, startled and a little confused by the question.

"Why exactly are you trying to change things? Isn't it possible things could get worse if you try?"

Was he seriously asking me that question? After I just told him about what would happen to Konoha, to our family, he wanted to know why I wanted to change things? I knew that he was right though. That I could make things worse. But I was selfish. I couldn't just sit still, twiddling my thumbs. I refused to let my father, or my mother, or anyone else I cared about, die. I leveled a glare at him.

Which, on the features of a four-year old, probably looked about as menacing as a fluffy kitten trying to intimidate someone with a growl.

"I will change things... to protect you, and Kaasan, and Aito. My family. My friends. I am not going to let... anything hurt you. Not if I can stop it."

He listened calmly as I spoke. When I finished, he leaned back in his chair, his fingers threaded together and laid in his lap, and stared at a point on the ceiling somewhere past my head. I could figure out for myself what that meant.

"I'm going home," I said quietly, drawing him out of his thoughts for a moment to look at me, "Kaasan might be... worried about me."

All I got was a nod. Quickly, I pushed myself out of the chair I'd taken a seat in and started to leave. I paused with my hand on the door and glanced back at him. He had resumed staring blankly at the ceiling. I wanted to say something else, but I didn't have the right words. So I left.

* * *

My feet pounded frantically down the streets of Konoha. My haste was partially caused by not wanting my mother to worry. The other larger part was thanks to my wild imagination making me think that the shadows in the dark were Anbu sent to capture me and lock me away in a cell. The only thing I could be relieved about was that there was no Ibiki waiting at the end of that road.

The minute I passed through the front door, Mom descended upon me, sternly lecturing me about how I wasn't supposed to be out after dark if she didn't know where I was. I let her concern wash over me before I explained myself, telling her I was sorry and that I'd been at father's office the entire after. She calmed down at that, but reminded me that I still had to tell her those kinds of things beforehand. Then she ushered me towards Aito's room, telling me I had to say goodnight to my brother before I went to bed.

It was a bit of a tradition. Aito always had a hard time going to sleep without someone singing to him. He liked it when my parents and the others sang to him. But he liked it the most when I sang to him. I didn't mind it; in fact, I really enjoyed singing. I loved music, then and now, and one of the great things I'd found when I'd been reborn was that my voice was nicer here. A bit pitchy, but that would probably resolve itself once my body matured. I was still shy about sharing it with others, but I loved to sing to Aito, who couldn't judge me since he had no concept of music aesthetics anyway.

I sat myself by Aito's crib. He kept on tumbling around in it, working off his energy, until he noticed I was there. Giving me that gummy baby smile of his, he inched his way over to me like a caterpillar, and tried to reach for me through the bars of the crib. I smiled back and took the reaching hand in my own.

Then I began to sing.

Like always, Aito only made it through half of the second verse of the song before he was out. I finished the song anyway. It was one of the few songs I still remembered from my past life, because it had meant a lot to me. I'd tried to sing it in Japanese once, just to hear how it sounded in the language, but I'd liked it better in English so I stuck with that version.

A sudden sound from behind had me jolting in fright at the song's conclusion. It was my father, leaning in the frame of the doorway, watching Aito and me with an incomprehensible expression on his face. My face heated, wondering how long he'd been standing there, listening in. Then my thoughts were inevitably drawn back to our previous conversation and I grew nervous.

"What language was that song in?" he asked suddenly.

"English," I answered, unable to wring the tenseness out of my body, "It was the language I spoke before I came here."

"Hmm." He moved then, and to my surprise, sat himself down right beside to me. "What did it mean?"

"It..." I took a deep breath, "The song is about a boy. A soldier. He is coming home after... war. He's tired from war and must be... carried home." I ducked my head. "I like to think that he got home. Maybe his friends... brought him back. But the song also makes me think. Maybe that boy might have died and only his... body was carried back home from war... instead." I hugged my knees to my chest. "I don't like that ending. It's sad."

"I don't like that ending either," my father said.

After a solemn moment of silence, he spoke again.

"If what you told me is real, than I truly wish you could have been born without knowing any of that. That you could have been a normal child with normal worries and concerns." My eyes squeezed shut, as I felt his words hit me hard. "I wish that you could have come to us free of that burden."

My head shot up swiveled so that I was staring at him.

"Huh?"

"I cannot begin to understand what it must be like to have left one life without for another full of war and pain. I'm not sure if I could believe it, but…" He looked down at me and put a hand on my head. "But I will never be sorry that you came to me and became my daughter because I will always love you, no matter who you were or what you know. For as long as I live, I will do everything in my power to help you keep our family and Konoha safe."

It took me a moment after he had finished speaking to realize that I was trembling. He noticed it too, and let the hand he had placed on my head slip down until it rested, warm and strong, on the nape of my neck. He pulled me forward and bent as he did so, until we were close, and then pressed a kiss to my forehead, like he had done many times before. It was then that I knew we were probably going to be alright. Maybe he didn't really believe me yet, but he seemed willing to try.

He was still my father. I was still his daughter.

The future lay ahead, dangerous and scary, but maybe I wouldn't have to face it alone.

* * *

Just because Dad decided to tentatively believe me didn't mean that I got out of the house call from the Yamanaka. He needed a second opinion on my memories. It was three days after I told him everything that he informed me that my appointment would be at the end of the week. I guess letting me know was a courtesy, knowing so I could mentally prepare myself.

Once I completed my daily exercises with Mom the morning after telling Dad everything, I left home hoping I could find something to get my mind off my Yamanaka related worries. During my wandering, I'd passed the Administration Building. For a moment, I'd wanted to pop into Dad's office for a visit and maybe a little reassuring. I decided against it since he was probably busy doing Hokage stuff. I really didn't want to get in the way of him working like I had the other day.

After dithering in front of the Administration Building a little longer, I took off to find somewhere better to loiter. Nawaki wasn't in the village today, so I couldn't harass him and his team. I'd actually had a question for Kanda-sensei about training so I was a little disappointed about that. My feet soon brought me to none other than the Hokage Monument. A chuckle escaped my lips. I'd still wanted to see my Dad, so I'd found the next best thing: the monument that had a gigantic stone likeness of him carved into it.

Sitting on top of his head, I could see everything in Konoha. It was easy to pick out the rooftops of the Administration Building, Konoha General, my house, and Tsunade and Nawaki's house. I could even see the park and marketplace Mom would take Aito and me to when she had the time.

Eventually, I got bored of looking familiar buildings and started contemplating random things.

(How did the demand of time, money, and man power building the Hokage Monument compare to building something like Mount Rushmore? They were pretty similar, big heads carved into a mountain. Who had built the Hokage monument, ninja or civilian builders? Ninja's would have probably been quicker, thanks to their strength and jutsu, but did they have the right skillset to carve? I remembered that in the Wave Arc of the series, they'd left the building of an important bridge to Tazuna, a civilian. So maybe civilian professionals were preferred on civic jobs like bridges and monuments? Besides that, it would be hard to gauge the time taken on the monument though, because Mount Rushmore had been built all at once while...)

A strange noise drew me out of my thoughts

Glancing in the direction the sound had come from, I saw a person sitting atop Shodaime's head, shaking. It took a moment to realize that the person was crying. It took another moment for me to groan at the sight.

I hated seeing people upset. I probably hated seeing people upset more than I hated trying to comfort upset people. As I watched the person's shoulders continue to shake, I considered my options: relocate or go talk to them. Well. I didn't want to leave. And I really wanted that person to stop crying already. So there was only one option.

Suck it up and get over there.

Grumbling to myself, I stood, climbed my way down from Dad's head, and made my way over to Shodaime's head.

"Hey up there!" I called out. I heard a squeak of surprise. "Are you alright?"

There was some shuffling up there before I saw a pudgy face appear over the crest of the stone figure.

"I'm f-f-fine," the person, a girl I realized, said unconvincingly, using the back of her hand to rub at her eyes.

"You don't look fine," I stated.

"I said I'm_ fine!_" she snapped, finally opening her azure eyes to glare at me.

She'd moved her head when she'd spoken and her hair came tumbling down around her face and shoulders. I blinked. My mouth fell open. I pointed at her.

"Your hair..."

Her eyes narrowed.

"...it's really red!"

Her growl was the only warning I got before she leapt at me. We tumbled to the ground, with her on top of me. Her fist clenched the front of my shirt and her round face was right up in mine.

"Don't make fun of me!" the girl roared at me, her eyes watering.

"But-! I didn't-! Your hair-!" I tried to explain.

It only served to make her angrier as she misunderstood what I was trying to say. She reared back, lifting her other fist.

(Wow, I'm about to be punched in the face.)

I flinched.

Suddenly, there was a furious scream, the sound of a struggle, and then the girl's weight was no longer holding me down. Above me, she thrashed violently, her hair whipping about her like it was alive. I noticed there was a pair of arms hooked underneath hers, holding her back. Just over her shoulder, the face of a blond-haired boy appeared.

"You shouldn't beat up little kids Uzumaki-san," he said, his voice quiet and disapproving, "That's mean."

"Let go of me, baka!" the girl cried. "I'm going to show the little gaki why no one should ever make fun of me!"

The boy grunted in pain when she tried to stomp on his foot to get him off of her. He managed to keep his hold on her just barely, and stopped to pin me with a look.

"You better get out of here, I don't think I can hold her for much longer." When I didn't move, he shouted, "Go!"

His shout snapped me out of my stupor. I nodded dumbly as I pulled myself to my feet and began to scramble away. Taking a chance to look back, I saw the girl drop kick the boy in the face.

"Sorry," I whispered over my shoulder, wincing in sympathy, but not slowing down the slightest in my mad dash to get home.

Yeah. That was how I first met Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze.

* * *

Meeting Naruto's future parents did little to distract me. In fact, all it accomplished was making me scared to leave home for fear that Kushina would find me and beat me up without Minato there to stop her. The way I'd cower behind my Mom whenever we went out had her giving me odd looks. I had to find other, safer methods of distraction from thinking about how nervous my Yamanaka appointment made me. I knew he wasn't going to hurt me. That he wasn't going to go snooping in my mind for what he shouldn't, only for what he was tasked to find. I just had so many thoughts and memories.

Already, I was unwillingly thinking of some very embarrassing and private things-

(Jiraiya is surprisingly attractive this young. I want to touch his hair. Sometimes I want to touch Orochimaru's hair, too. It's so long and pretty. Tsunade's pretty. Tsunade's wearing the leaf pendant necklace I gave her. Looking at it always draws my attention to her chest. Tsunade's breasts have a couple sizes left to go before they hit epic size. Noooo, stop thinking that... My chest was pretty large in my last life too, thanks to grandma's genes. I miss my other family sometimes. I wonder how they are now that I'm gone? It must be like Ruth all over again. Where did she go when-)

-that I didn't want people seeing.

That was why I took up meditation as a new, safe way to distract myself. While I hadn't quite gotten the hang of turning my thoughts completely off (and I seriously doubted I ever would), it at least helped me narrow my thoughts down to only two or three trains of thought, as opposed to the ten different ones I usually had going at once. Worrying about the Yamanaka always occupied one, but the others were focused on more productive things.

Like planning what I was going to do with my life.

Not only what I would have to do to avert certain future events from happening, but what I needed _to be _to change things.

To be a ninja or not to be a ninja? That was the question.

I'd put some serious thought into going civilian, specifically in a vocation that allowed me to travel places and subtly influence things in the background. A diplomat, a merchant, or a wandering priestess could have worked. Having the ability to move through the countries with little suspicion as I pleased had appealed to me. That and I wouldn't have to put myself in danger fighting battles. However, just because I wouldn't be fighting, didn't mean I wouldn't be in danger. I'd still be assassination and abduction bait as long as I was the Sandaime's daughter. I needed to be capable of defending myself.

So ninja it was.

The decision had been a bit daunting at first. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to hack it. While I'd been kind of active in my old life, doing things like fencing, archery, jogging, and some martial arts, I hadn't stuck with any one thing for very long. I would get kind of good at something, then drop it because I was lazy and bored.

Thankfully, my parents had already been subtly conditioning me to be ready for a ninja's life and I'd been making an honest effort to commit physical conditioning. My ability as a ninja would suffer if I didn't try to round myself in all aspects of my training, even if I was lazy. The physical side of a ninja was important not only for being able to perform decently at taijutsu, but also because it was one of the parts in a person that made up chakra.

On the subject of chakra, chakra manipulation was the secondary objective of my meditating. I applied what I knew about meditation from yoga in my last life towards finding the inner balance and focus that I would put towards tapping my chakra. I'd started out feeling positive I'd have a grasp on it in no time.

It was arrogant to have thought that in retrospect.

There are many systems in the human body. Even if someone knows of their existence, it takes an advanced understanding to recognize what they are looking for and how it works. I only had a mediocre understanding of the chakra circulatory system. Coming from another world, I'd thought that because of my familiarity with anatomy, I'd easily be able to locate the foreign system and start learning how to manipulate it. No such luck.

I had to meditate religiously just so that I could locate my chakra within my body. Once I accomplished even that much, I had to try and... well, I guess the best way to describe it would be trying to catch it. In my mind, I was always reaching for my chakra, trying to seize it with my mental hands. It seemed as though it slipped through my fingers each time I felt close. By the time the end of the week was up, I still hadn't managed more than a couple accidental grasps for my chakra. My triumphs only lasted for a moment before I'd feel a sudden surge, then lurch forward and pass out. After that first botched attempt in the backyard, I'd saved all attempts at chakra control for when I was about to go to sleep. If I passed out, I would pass out in bed and not in any weird places where I'd be found by my parents or strangers and wake up to them fretting.

By the end of the week, I was still nervous, sucktastic at chakra control, and my date with the Yamanaka had come.

* * *

I put myself in the spot between the two bookcases on the back wall of Dad's office. My spot was just behind the chair he sat in when at his desk. It was the safest position in the room, because the only way to reach me was to come at me from the front and any attacker had to go through my Dad first.

Not that it would stop what was coming.

I shrunk in on myself when the door opened and Dad's secretary, a pretty lady who was actually a chuunin dressed in civilian clothing, let in a man tall enough that I could see a tuft of blond hair over my Dad's shoulder. The minute the secretary left, closing the door behind her, I saw my father reach beneath his desk and touch a spot on the surface underneath. Something glowed at the touch. I was intrigued. Fuuinjutsu? He touched a couple more spots, which also glowed, before putting his hand in his lap.

"Inokatsu-san, thank you for coming. I apologize for demanding your time after you just came back from your last mission."

"It's not too much trouble, Hokage-sama. I figured this was an important meeting, considering how little information you volunteered in the summons," I heard the man, Inokatsu, say wryly. "So what did you need me for?"

"I have someone here that I would like you to extract information from. This case is very sensitive, so I needed someone I trusted to keep it confidential. The information you'll be getting for me has the potential to become an S-ranked village secret once we document it," Dad explained to him in what I had dubbed his Serious-Hokage-Business voice after my meeting with him.

The tuft of hair bobbed up and down over the horizon of my Dad's shoulder.

"Understood. You said that the person whose mind I'll be going into is here? Where are they? And what exactly will I be looking for?"

"Nanako," Dad called out, "Would you mind coming out now so that you can meet Inokatsu-san?"

Swallowing, I nodded even though I didn't need to, and stood shakily. I moved so that I was standing next to Dad. The top of my head didn't even reach the top of his desk. He reached down, his hands going beneath my armpits, and lifted me. Then he sat me down on the armrest of his chair so that I could see Inokatsu across his desk. I stared nervously down at the wooden surface, as if not looking him in the eye meant he couldn't mess with my mind.

(That's the way you avoid Uchihas and legilimency, stupid.)

"Nanako, this is Inokatsu Yamanaka-san, head of the Yamanaka clan. Inokatsu-san, this is Nanako, my daughter," my father said, snapping me out of it.

I forced myself to look up at Inokatsu, who stared back at me, his face blank.

"Hello Yamanaka-sama," I said softly, my voice squeaking thanks to my nerves.

Inokatsu twitched.

"She's a child." The muscles around the man's mouth tightened. "She's your daughter, Hokage-sama. Why did you think I would agree to this? You know that my clan has rules about these kinds of cases. She doesn't even look like she's started ninja training yet. What could possibly warrant extraction on your own child?"

I saw my Dad open his mouth out of the corner of my eye to explain himself. I beat him to the punch.

"I asked for this."

The blond man blinked in shock, his face losing some of its stiffness.

"What?"

"I asked for the mind walk Yamanaka-sama," I said, "There are things that I know that Tousan needs to know are true. He needs proof. If you see it, you'll have the proof he needs."

"You look like you're even younger than my own son. Children your age haven't even entered the academy yet." Inokatsu looked at me, conflicted. "How could you know anything that could be considered an S-rank secret?"

"It's a long story. And hard to... explain," I answered him, feeling the expression on my face strain, "It would be... easier if you looked through my... memories. It's all there."

He looked to my Dad.

"I wouldn't ask this of you unless it was necessary and Nanako agreed to it." His chin dropped and his eyes became shadowed. "If you agree to do this, you must be extra careful handling Nanako. She's a very special case. If at any moment something seems to be going wrong, you pull out immediately. Like you said, she is my daughter, and I don't want anything bad to happen to her."

What was this sudden _pressure _in the room?

It went away as soon as it came, but it had felt like I couldn't breathe for a second there. A hand found its way to the back of my neck and my body slumped a little. Had I been that tense?

"Understood Hokage-sama. I will take every precaution with her."

"You'll do it then?"

The Yamanaka looked at me again. "You're positive you're alright with this Sarutobi-chan?"

"Yes. I'm sure Yamanaka-sama."

That sounded like a lie the minute it left my mouth. Thankfully, it didn't to my Dad or Inokatsu.

"Call me Inokatsu, Sarutobi-chan."

"Okay. Inokatsu-san."

He finally crooked a smile at my insistence on being polite. Then, he rearranged the chairs in Dad's office so that two of them faced each other. He had me sit in one while he sat in the other.

"The good thing about this is that you're allowing me access to your mind. It's easier for the both of us that way, and makes it much less likely to hurt," he explained to me.

"It might hurt?"

After everything I'd done to calm myself, I was immediately set on edge again by that last off-handed comment. He bit his lip, realizing what he'd said.

"There's always discomfort during an extraction - you called it a mind walk? - voluntary or not. The mind doesn't want to let in other people. In the case of trying to mind walk a bad ninja, I'd have to force their mind open and take the answers. It takes a strong will - really wanting to get in - to open another person's mind when they don't want you to and fight you. Most ninja we deal with try to fight us, so it's usually harder to get in. In your case, since you're _inviting _me, your mind is less likely to fight me, so I won't have to fight your mind and hurt you."

I guess that made sense. In a physical fight, you could hurt yourself struggling as much as you'd hurt the person you were fighting off. I nodded to let him know I understood. Inokatsu stopped to talk to my Dad, so I used that time to breathe and try to organize my thoughts. Maybe it would help him see what he needed to see, maybe it wouldn't. Finally, he turned back to ask me if he could put his hand on my head and begin. I told him yes.

Before I knew it, I felt a falling sensation that was eerily familiar.

And then I blanked.

* * *

There was darkness.

Slowly, something faded in. There was sound first, then color, then shapes. And then I could see all of it.

.

_I was twelve. I knew because I was already wearing that horrible baseball cap with the name of my middle school on it and the mascot._

_There was a skinny girl with straight hair and awkward elbows sitting next to me. There were two more kids, little boys younger than the girl and me. One looked like the girl. One looked like me._

_We were all seated in front of the TV. It was the skinny girl's house._

_The TV had a cartoon playing on it. I looked a little more closely at it and saw a boy in orange leaping through the trees. Jumping from branch to like his life depended on it._

_All four of us watched on the edge of our seats._

.

The first time I'd watched Naruto. The girl and I had been best friends and had always watched new animes and read new mangas together. It was our thing. All of the other kids had been talking about Naruto, so we had decided to check it out. My best friend would lose interest in it in only a couple months.

I wouldn't.

A couple more memories of watching Naruto played across my eyes, rushing by like they were on a reel. The memories slowed when approaching one that was a little more different from the rest.

.

_It was Christmas. There was a tree. We were opening gifts._

_I was jealous that my brother had gotten a new game system. It went away when I was handed a lumpy package that was meant for me. I opened it carefully like I did with all presents and pulled out what was inside. It was a sweater. I was ready to pout until my Mom motioned for me to unfold it. I did what she said and my eyes lit up when I saw the Konoha leaf on the front. Excitedly, I started looking over the sweater. There was a red swirl on one sleeve. And on the back... My favorite character wreathed in blue-white lightning. I squealed and hugged the sweater to my chest, thanking my mother profusely._

.

The memories flicked back to random ones of me watching the show or reading the manga. Some episodes were out of sequence thanks to the fact that I missed a few and had to ask my friend who recorded the show to let me come over and see them.

They slowed down again as I approached another memory.

.

_There was an ice cream parlor. My mom and brother were there. There was also another woman. She was overweight and wore a hat over her head to hide her hair. Hair that was falling out. _

_My mother tried to facilitate conversation between the four of us, but it wasn't really working. My brother didn't know what to say. I didn't even try. I had my nose buried in the Naruto section of Shounen Jump. I pretended I didn't see the disappointed look on my Mom's face. And I pretended I couldn't see the sad longing in the other woman's eyes when she looked at me._

_Eyes that looked like mine._

.

I came out of that one with a shudder. I knew that memory very well. I didn't have time to recover from it because I was diving into another one a second later.

.

_I stood in the hall._

_My Mom, my brother, and my aunt were all in the room at the end of it. I didn't turn to look. I could hear just fine. My Mom was sobbing and my aunt was speaking very quietly to my brother, who was silent._

_I couldn't go in. I couldn't look._

_I played with the zipper of my sweater, pulling it up and down so the teeth split the Konoha leaf and then stitched it back together, and then repeated the process, trying desperately to distract myself._

_I couldn't go in. I couldn't look._

_Her body was in there._

.

I wanted to scream. It was like I had been reliving that God awful time all over again.

Then, another memory.

.

_I was in my room. I stared at my sweater, held limply in my hands. My eyes were blank and red. I walked to my closet, my sweater still in my hands, reached as far back into the closet as I could, and dropped the sweater. _

_I let myself forget about it._

.

After that, there were glimpses of other things. My brother would show me things related to Naruto that I'd look at with mild interest before going back to whatever I had been doing before I'd been interrupted. My friends over the years would give me Naruto themed gifts, and I'd accept them gratefully, and then put them on a desk or a shelf somewhere in my room and forget about them.

I was pulled into a different memory then.

It was like a time skip. I went from being a younger teen to being in college.

.

_I was browsing through my email when I stopped on one from a person I hadn't talked to in a long time. An old friend I'd used to go to anime conventions with before I'd lost interest in it. They were inviting me to help staff an anime convention. I was unsure on how I should answer. It had been a long time since I'd seen my friend and wanted the opportunity to hangout. But it had been an even longer time since I'd been involved with anime. Was I even qualified to work for an anime convention?_

_I'd said yes before I realized it._

_In a panic, I'd turned to my computer and started trying to re-immerse myself in manga and anime to get prepared. Before I knew it, I'd fallen back into the Naruto fandom, and started reading the manga online and looking through the wikipedia page._

.

The reading and watching I did online began to blur together. Things I hadn't even remembered about the story suddenly became clear again. Suddenly, I halted on a particular memory.

.

_It was the second day of the convention. I was on graveyard shift running errands for different divisions. It wasn't so bad. I hadn't even really needed to know much about anime. If you could work, they didn't care. _

_Things were slow late at night. I'd grabbed a coffee for my friend who was on shift with me and had it precariously balanced atop the box of posters I was delivering from the printing office._

_Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a form slumped against the rail of a staircase in the convention center. I frowned. Was it a sleeper or someone who needed help? They'd told me during training that we weren't supposed to allow sleepers. I went to check it out in case I needed to kick the guy out or call an EMT or something. _

_Cautiously, I nudged him with my foot. _

_He stirred. He groaned. He didn't get up._

_I nudged him again._

_"Go away God dammit!" he snarled at me, batting at my foot._

_Startled, I stumbled away from him. The coffee spilled down my front and I yelped. The box of posters flew out of my arms and landed hard on the guy. With a pained roar, he surged up at me. Scared, I backed up. Too far. _

_I fell._

_As I fell, I stared up at the man, a boy really, who stared back down at me. His eyes were bleary from sleep, but he was awake enough to realize what was happening. He was shouting, trying to reach for my arm, his eyes wild with fear. He was afraid for me. He wanted to save me. Too late._

_The last thing I remembered was my eyes traveling up from his face to look at the forehead protector tied around his head with the swirling leaf._

_A Naruto fan, huh?_

.

The shapes, the colors, the sounds, faded out.

And then I woke up.

* * *

**AN:** Some comments on this chapter: The original plan for Nanako telling Hiruzen ended in her convincing him she was a seer. Threw that out since it was highly unlikely he'd believe anything she said unless she told the truth. Points for anyone who figures out the name of the song Nanako sings, because that's a reference to something near and dear to my heart. I snuck talking about Mt. Rushmore into this because I've always wondered about it. Meeting Kushina and Minato happened sooner than intended (shrug). Chakra… eh. Most people go with a hypersensitivity to chakra. I wanted to try for a more standard, if not less than average dealing with chakra. It'll get better. Inokatsu… (snickers) Originally, I intended on calling him _Inomaru_. Oh my God. When I looked up what that meant, I choked on my spit because… wow. I'm not above dirty humor and innuendo, but I prefer it to be a little more obvious. Last but not least, the memory sequences. If anyone actually has questions about them, ask in a PM or something. I could say a lot here, but this AN's already becoming an essay and it doesn't need my life story to add to its length

The next chapter will be up in a week-and-a-half to two-weeks. See y'all later.


	4. Chapter Three: For Want of a Hook

**Chapter Three:** For Want of a Hook

* * *

My eyes opened and I saw my Dad sitting at my side, relief was stark upon his features as his eyes roved over my face. I glanced languidly around the office and found Inokatsu still sitting in chair he'd been in earlier. He looked haggard, with his elbows on his knees, his face in his hands, and his hair falling in a ruffled, unbound mess around his shoulders.

"Are you alright Nanako?" Dad asked me.

"I'm... okay," I answered him, "What happened?" I glanced at Inokatsu. "What happened to Inokatsu-san? Is he alright?"

"He managed to get the proof we were looking for. The information in your memories, the truth," Dad told me, reaching up with his other hand and smoothing back the hair that had fallen into my eyes, "However he also said something strange happened at the end."

"The last memory... it was my death," I finished for him, closing my eyes, "I didn't even remember that. What was... strange about it?"

"When I tried to see past it, your mind lashed out at me," Inokatsu cut in, his voice sounding closer than he'd been when I'd last checked.

I opened my eyes and saw him standing at Dad's shoulder. His fists were clenched at his sides, and he watched me carefully.

"It... lashed out at you?" I echoed.

"Yes." He lifted his arm and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and finger. "By the time I'd reached that last memory, your mind was becoming unstable. There was something else just beyond, but I wasn't allowed access. I tried to push for it, but the minute I did, your mind forcefully ejected me." He looked me in the eye. "You used chakra to push me out."

"What?"

"I'm used to ninjas I'm interrogating trying to use their chakra against me in their minds. I wasn't expecting it from you." I noticed my Dad sit up straighter when Inokatsu turned to him. "Tell me, have you been giving her any training with chakra?"

Dad's eyes slid over to me, narrowed in suspicion.

"No I haven't."

"Well then." And now I had their collective attention directed at me. "Sarutobi-chan, have you been experimenting with your chakra without supervision?"

"Um... yes?"

My Dad's expression sharpened in disapproval.

"Nanako, that was very dangerous. Children aren't supposed to do anything with their chakra until they are taught the right way to use it by their parents or the Academy. Playing around with your chakra when you don't know what to do with it is dangerous. You could have died of chakra exhaustion if you push too far." Dad stopped and then deflated. "Even if you are mature beyond your years due to your condition, you don't yet know everything there is to being a ninja. Next time you try working with your chakra, you have to have an experienced ninja with you to help you do it correctly. Do you understand?"

I could understand what he meant from a rational standpoint, even if it bothered me to be lectured. If I'd had someone walking me through it, someone I could ask questions of, maybe I'd actually be starting to understand how to use my chakra. All those times I'd passed out trying to use it, I could've pushed a little too far and never woken up.

That was a scary thought.

"Yes," I capitulated, "I'm sorry. I'll ask for help next time."

"I expect you to," he said sternly, but an undercurrent of gratefulness was there too.

"Hokage-sama, Sarutobi-chan, what exactly was it I saw?" Inokatsu asked after a beat of silence.

Dad and I looked at one another.

"Nanako came to me earlier this week with a secret that she has been keeping for as long as she has been alive. A secret that has continued to shake my beliefs and test my ability to trust and accept things I always thought impossible. She told me that she had been reincarnated," he explained to the confused Yamanaka, "Part of her condition of being reincarnated has allowed her to, in a fashion, see a potential future of Konoha should certain events come to pass. At first, I wasn't sure if I could believe her, but after looking into some of the things she has told me, and hearing you confirming that she was telling the truth, I'm finding myself more willing to believe. And the more I believe, the more I fear for our future."

"So you're saying...?"

"My daughter can see the future of Konoha," Dad finished for him, "Rather complicated, isn't it?"

It _was _complicated. He hadn't even mentioned other worlds and fictional realities either. Really though, the less complicated we kept things, the easier it would be. Especially considering how the poor man already looked like we'd told him the sky was green, kunai grew on trees, and the Shodaime had been a cross dresser.

I had a horrible feeling that Inokatsu wouldn't be the only person we'd have to explain my "condition" - as Dad had so neatly put it - to.

"Wow." The man looked at me wonderingly. "So that was really my son and, Kami, my _granddaughter_, I saw in your mind?"

I blinked. Son? Granddaughter? It didn't take long to make a guess. There were only so many Yamanakas I knew of in the future. Did he mean Inoichi and Ino? Were those two directly related to Inokatsu?

"Maybe."

"This is almost too crazy to believe," he breathed out, "And I just saw all of it in your mind." He looked at my Dad. "How did you?"

Dad glanced at me.

"She's my daughter. And she trusted me enough to share it with me. How could I not try to put the same trust in her?"

Inokatsu looked between the two of us, long and hard, before smiling.

"I see. If it had been my own son, I would have tried for him as well." His soft expression disappeared as a more serious one replaced it. "Hokage-sama, things I saw in that future, they were awful. What are we going to do about it?"

"At this point, I'm not entirely sure Inokatsu-san." Dad sighed. "As Hokage, I wish I had answers, ideas, but with these circumstances, I'm not even sure where to begin."

They both turned to me at that point, Dad apologetic and Inokatsu thoughtful and expectant. I wondered briefly if this world was doomed when grown men and seasoned ninja turned to me for help. Thankfully, I had come prepared.

An insane plan had been floating around in the back of my head. So many things could go wrong if I decided on it. But the more I considered it, the more the possible gains of the plan outweighed the risk. Dad was in my corner. He'd be there to back up my play and cover my bluffs if necessary. Then there was Inokatsu, who seemed to be an ally, and probably invaluable proof that I wasn't just off my nut babbling about seeing the future.

"Tousan." He and Inokatsu leaned forward in anticipation. "I think we need to go talk to Danzo Shimura."

"Are you sure, Nanako?" Dad finally asked after a long uncomfortable moment, "Shimura may be my friend and comrade, but even I know how dangerous he can be to work with. After what you've told me, I thought you wouldn't want to turn to him either."

Of course I understood. Frankly, if it wasn't for the fact that I was the _honored firstborn daughter _of the Hokage himself, I would've thrown out this plan the minute it had occurred to me. Only my status would keep me safe from potential fall out of this move. If I had been just a civilian child, I'd have had to keep my mouth shut for fear I'd end up being disappeared. Even if I had been a clan child, I would have been leery of dealing with Danzo. Not even clans were safe from Danzo if he put his mind to it.

The point was, I had a good idea of what I was getting myself into here and I was willing to accept the consequences of my decision. I'd prepared for being shot down at the very beginning when I'd first approached Dad. However, despite all my worries and everything that could've gone wrong so far, things had gone smoothly. Dad was helping me, Inokatsu was convinced. I might as well push my luck and try and acquire Danzo's help. My only hope was that if this didn't work in our favor, it wouldn't drive an even deeper wedge between Dad and Danzo.

That wouldn't be a good thing for anyone.

"I do understand. But I still need to see him." Dad sighed resignedly and nodded. "I think I'm going to need help... figuring out how talk to him. Will you help me?"

"You know I will," he told me, squeezing my wrist with his hand before standing and walking over to his desk and beginning to shuffle through some paperwork, "I'll arrange for a time in which you can speak with him. You won't have to see him alone."

"Thank you."

"I just can't believe the first thing you ask for my help on is to ask _that man _for help," he muttered to himself as he began scribbling something on a sheet of paper, "Why couldn't it have been something easier?"

I turned to Inokatsu, who was still standing off to the side looking like he was waiting to be addressed or dismissed. He snapped to attention when he realized I was staring at him.

"Sarutobi-chan?" he said uncertainly, as if waiting for me to demand something of him.

"Thank you Inokatsu-san."

He gave me a confused smile.

"For what?"

"I forgot a lot. Forgetting for me is... dangerous."

Understanding dawned on him and he nodded grimly.

"If that's all, Hokage-sama?" His eyes flicked over to me. "Sarutobi-chan?"

"For now," Dad responded, "No doubt, we will need to call on you again sometime soon."

"And I will be ready."

"Good. You are dismissed."

With a final nod to us both, Inokatsu disappeared with a poof.

(Shunshin.)

"Nanako," Dad said, snapping me out of my blank staring at the spot Inokatsu had been occupying only seconds before, "Let's get to work."

* * *

"Kanda-sensei?"

"Hmm?"

"Can you show me how to find my chakra?"

The man, who'd only been paying attention to the three way taijutsu sparring match going on between Nawaki, Meiko, and Chouzu, shifted his entire attention to me. Both eyebrows slowly crept up his forehead.

"You want me to help with your chakra, Nanako?" he asked me, somehow managing to sound equal parts amused, surprised, and suspicious, "Isn't that something you should be asking your parents about?"

"They're busy."

Busy was putting it mildly. Mom was running herself ragged at the hospital, and the rare weekends she had off from work seemed few and far between lately. I didn't want to waste her relaxation time with us making her train me. It wouldn't be fair to her, or to Aito who deserved her time as much as I did.

And Dad. Poor Dad. I'd feel a hundred times worse trying to ask him for another favor. He was busy with normal Hokage work _and _negotiating a meeting place and time with Danzo. And if I was reading into the situation correctly from what he told me in his updates concerning Danzo, the other man was doing his best to be difficult about arranging the meeting.

My first choices after Mom and Dad had been Tsunade and Jiraiya, but they were almost as busy going back and forth between the front lines and the village.

So I couldn't turn to any of them for help with chakra training. And Dad had forbidden me from any attempts without supervision. While I could have just ignored him, I would prefer not deliberately disobeying him. That and all of my independent work so far had been getting me nowhere. Finding me a teacher would get me better results.

Finally it came down to Kanda, Nawaki's teacher. He was much more available, since genin and their jounin sensei at least got a fair amount of down time between missions and deployment. While I would've been more at ease learning from the others, Kanda was a surprisingly patient and intelligent guy, from what I observed of him with Nawaki's team. As far as I was concerned, anyone who could deal with the preteens on a regular basis without strangling them and still manage to teach them anything would probably make an okay teacher.

Kanda continued to eye me strangely.

"What exactly do you want to know about chakra?

"How to use it," I replied.

"They don't even teach students how to access their chakra until the third year of the Academy," Kanda mused, returning most of his attention back to the sparring match, "What's your rush to learn?"

"I want to..." I paused. "I want to be a really good ninja."

It wasn't just that I wanted to be a good ninja. I needed to be a good ninja. A great ninja, even. I'd been born in the time of legends. Already, there was my father and his students. Hell, I'd even met the pint sized Yellow Flash not two weeks ago. And those were just my allies. If I wanted to someday be able to stand at their side and fight, I needed to start working hard now.

I had so many advantages as it was. I was motivated. My genetics were good, whether I took more after one parent or the other more. And most importantly, my lineage was pretty damn impressive. No one would bat an eye at me becoming a prodigy, or genius, whatever they were calling it on the streets these days. I could be the next Tsunade or something. After all, the sannin had become genin at _six_ and, though it was yet to happen, Kakashi had become one even younger than that.

While some would say it wasn't fair to try and hold myself to those kinds of standards, I couldn't afford not to.

"What do you already know about chakra?" he finally inquired after a couple seconds had trickled by.

I told him all of the basics I'd gleaned from an Academy textbook I'd talked Nawaki into reading to me while he'd still been in attendance. While the coherency of my description wasn't that great, Kanda seemed impressed by what I had retained about chakra. When I got to telling him about my attempts to "grab" my chakra, I found him looking at me with an indiscernible look.

"What?" I asked, self-conscious.

"You know how I said that most children don't learn how to access their chakra until they're in their third year, right?"

"Yeah."

"There's a reason for it. Most kids your age haven't built up the chakra reserves they need to do even the Academy level techniques yet. You were off to a good start trying to get a feel for your chakra, but you were pushing too far too fast trying to use it after only just finding it. You kept passing out because you don't have enough chakra to use and drained yourself completely every time you touched it," he explained to me, poking my cheek. I scowled which only made him smirk, "It's okay to keep meditating as long as all you're doing is feeling and not trying to go 'grabbing' for your chakra again. I'll have you check with me later so we can see if you've built up your reserves to a better amount. What you probably need is more physical training, like exercising or sparring. It's more likely than not that your lack of physical energy is holding you back from forming enough chakra."

Well, crap. That was what it came down to then. I'd tried to convince myself that I was doing fine with the exercises I did with Mom and Dad in the mornings. Obviously, now it only went to show me how what I was doing really wasn't enough. When Kanda noticed my expression, his eyebrows rose again as he gave me an unimpressed look.

"It's going to take a lot of dedication and hard work to be a good ninja. Are you sure that you can do it?"

I knew that look. It was a variant of the look that he gave Nawaki when he was being a brat about training. I really wasn't trying to be a brat, I was being serious dammit, and I wanted him to train me seriously. So this was going to take a lot of dedication and hard work, huh? Fine. I'd show Kanda that I could be dedicated and a hard worker. This would be a challenge to work outside of my comfort zone with physical training. A challenge I'd overcome.

"What kinds of exercises should I do Kanda-sensei?" I asked, determined, as I stood up before him.

"If you're really serious about this," he drawled, the corners of his lips quirking upwards as he straightened his back, "I can start you off with some simple exercises for today." His eyes dragged across the training ground before settling back on me. "I want you to jog around the training ground for as long as you can. After that, I'll let you take a water break before running you through some basic kata. If we have time once you're finished with the kata and you're not too tired, maybe I can talk Meiko into having a mock spar with you."

A groan almost escaped my lips, but forced it down, snapped a mock salute, and scurried off to start my jog. I heard Kanda chuckle and decided the revise my earlier assessment of his sanity. He probably _was _insane. I don't know how I'd missed this hidden streak of sadism, but obviously it was there and I'd have to grin and bear it if I was going to show it I'd be able to do this.

As I jogged, my eyes were drawn to the center of the training ground where the sparring match still raged. Chouzu and Meiko seemed to have formed a temporary alliance to double team Nawaki. I watched as Chouzu feinted a punch and managed to land a kick to the small Nawaki's back that had him hurtling forward.

Right into Meiko's clothesline.

"Ouch," I muttered to myself with a cringe.

Nawaki went down like a sack of potatoes and immediately Chouzu and Meiko were squaring off with each other, their downed teammate left in the dust. I watched a little longer, and only felt a little more scared as I watched them fight. Chouzu was slightly better at taijutsu due to his clan's emphasis on it. However, Meiko evened the playing field with every dirty move she could pull. A shiver ran up my spine. I'd watched spars between the three of them before but I'd never watched it as if one of them would end up a potential opponent. Meiko viciously thrashing her teammates was suddenly decidedly less awesome and more than a bit terrifying now.

For the rest of my jog, I contemplated faking complete exhaustion after Kanda had me do kata drills so I wouldn't have to spar with (get beaten up by) Meiko. Swallowing, I reminded myself I'd asked for it and I'd take my beating like a big girl.

(I only cried a little when Kanda disinfected the cuts and scratches I got my arms and chin before I went home after the spar.)

* * *

The day of the meeting with Danzo dawned a couple weeks later. It was a warm and comfortable, even in the evening in contrast to how sore and achy I felt. When I'd looked at myself in the mirror that morning, I'd been met with the face of a scruffy little kid with a bird's nest for hair and a black eye that could be attributed to Chouzu. It had been his turn to spar with me during the next team training meeting I'd dropped in for and he'd managed to put an elbow in my eye. It hadn't looked that bad when I'd gone to bed the night before.

Breakfast had gone about as well as expected when my family saw my black eye. Aito's enchantment with the new coloring of my eye had me asking Mom not to heal it right away. Judging by the way Dad's eye twitched every time he looked at it, I'd also have to head off any stern talks he was planning to have with Kanda about my training. I didn't want him scaring Kanda off in any way. No matter how much I whined and complained to myself about how tough it was, I really appreciated him helping me even when I wasn't really part of his genin team. And I didn't want Dad finding out it had been Chouzu's fault either. Chouzu had been going pretty easy on me, really only dodging while I tried and failed to hit him.

(If you wanted a more accurate description of what happened, it really went like this: I'd gone in for an attack on his side and accidentally ran my face into his elbow. That resulted in me flopping onto the floor clutching at my face while Chouzu stood over me looking upset, and guilty, and babbling apologies while not stopping for air. What followed was a Nawaki trying to pick a fight with Chouzu claiming he'd "killed me", Meiko rolling her eyes, and Kanda chuckling his stupid chuckle as he dismissed them for lunch break, picked me up, slung me over his shoulder, and carried me home.)

Team Kanda would be busy with a long term mission resupplying a couple outposts, so I had to train independently for the day. I'd set out for a run, with the intention of running until I collapsed. My run was interrupted when I noticed a messenger hawk making circling around me in the air. I paused, jogging in place, and let it come to me so I could take the message. It was a pretty simple message: _Come to the Hokage's Office. _Once I'd pocketed the note and dismissed the hawk, I resumed running, only with a change of course that had me heading back towards the center of the village to get to the Administration Building.

As I ran, I thought about the message and why I'd gotten it. I'd never had a messenger hawk sent personally for me before. The only people I'd ever seen getting hawks like that were adults, like my parents or Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. I was technically still four so what business did a four year-old have receiving important messenger hawks?

Well, considering what I'd gotten myself involved in, it really wasn't a mystery what that business could be about.

I met Dad at the door of his office, where he was speaking quietly with a tall silver-haired haired Anbu. The minute he spotted me, he whispered something more I couldn't hear to the Anbu. In a blink, the Anbu was there and then suddenly he wasn't. I opened my mouth to ask Dad what was going on - why I'd been called in, if it was about Danzo, what was he talking to that Anbu about - but shut my mouth when I noticed the look on his face and the brief shake of his head. He held out his hand to me and I took it without question and quietly followed.

We stayed silent our entire walk, and though his grip on my hand was gentle, every other part of Dad's body seemed to be tense. It was worrying enough to keep me from complaining about my increasingly sweaty palm or how much effort it was taking to make sure my small legs kept up with his much longer strides. Eventually, we came to a stop in front of what looked like a tea house in a part of Konoha I'd never been to before. Dad released my hand and then put his entire arm around my shoulder, pulling me closer so I was tucked into his side. I glanced questioningly up at him, but he didn't give me any answers, just walked us both inside.

The lighting inside the tea house was low. After coming from outside where the sun had been shining very brightly, it took me awhile to adjust my eyes to seeing things with less light. I looked around the tea house, taking stock of it. There were a good number of sturdy looking tables, a bonsai tree at each one for decor and a couple of them occupied by patrons. There was a young couple at one, an old woman at another, and a middle aged woman with a small male child. In the back, there was an opening that allowed customers to look into the kitchen area. There were two people there, a man and a woman, working in the kitchen. The woman had looked up the minute we entered, having heard us thanks to the bells that had been put on the noren at the entrance. She came out from the kitchen, greeting us with a pleasant smile.

"Welcome to Nebari Teahouse. Table for two?"

"We're expected," Dad told her curtly with a shake of his head.

Nothing in her expression changed, and yet there was something different, something cold and distant, about her the minute Dad had spoken. She nodded and motioned for us to follow her as she began shuffling towards the back. Dad used the arm he still had around me to move me along as we followed her. I dragged my feet a little as we approached the back of the teahouse. Something about this place, and that woman, was setting something off in me. My chest felt tight with anticipation as we rounded an unexpected corner that brought us to a descending staircase. At the bottom was a door.

The woman opened the door. She waited for us to pass through, not entering herself, and then shut it behind us.

It didn't surprise me that the person who'd been waiting for us had been Danzo.

What did surprise me, when my eyes fell upon him, was the utter lack of the distinguishing features he'd had in the series. Namely, the bandaged arm and eye. I couldn't help but goggle at both and how they were unwrapped. Danzo sat before us, holding a cup to his mouth with both hands and drawing long sips into his mouth as he watched us impassively over the cup's rim.

I twitched every time he blinked.

"Danzo."

Danzo set the cup down.

"Hiruzen."

Both men inclined their heads at each other in sync. No one moved after that and neither Dad nor Danzo removed their gazes from each other. Silence fell over the three of us. Was I supposed to introduce myself? I couldn't decide if doing so would be the polite or rude thing to do. What was the speaking etiquette when you were in attendance at a secret meeting? I wanted to say something and yet I was concerned that the moment I opened my mouth, that would be invitation enough for Danzo to come down upon me with all of his scrutiny. So I held my tongue a little longer, gripped Dad's shirt a little tighter, and waited to be spoken to before I said a word.

As if to spite my internal decision to stay inconspicuous for as long as possible, the man at the table shifted his attention right at that moment to me. I'm not ashamed to admit I started. It felt as if the boogie man himself was the one staring me down. For a fraction of a second, I even wished I was talking to Orochimaru instead.

"So this is your brat," he said evenly, looking me up and down, "And after holding out on showing her to Homura and Koharu for so long, I'm the one privileged enough to see her first."

His thin lips curved into something resembling a smile.

"However, if what you have told me is true, she might not be a brat at all."

It was starting to get strange, hearing people say aloud what had been my most serious secret for years now. Not that I was shocked Danzo was already laying the cards on the table. I'd decided to save myself the time explaining my story by giving Dad permission to fill the other man in on everything before I met him. We'd save time that way so we could get to what we were really here for. I gently shrugged off the hand on my shoulder and stepped forward. Briefly, I met eyes with Danzo before dipping deeply in a bow and opening my mouth to speak the words that I'd been practicing for this.

"Greetings Shimura-sama. It's an honor to meet with you. I am Nanako Sarutobi. My father has already told you everything, I believe?"

"Yes. It was an amazing tale. Reincarnation, seeing the future, another world. Typically, I'm not one for fantasy, but for Hiruzen and his daughter, I'm willing to indulge. You have such a vivid imagination."

The condescension in his tone, the smirk I could practically hear in his voice, had me snapping up out of my bow and narrowing my eyes at him with barely reigned in irritation.

"You don't believe us."

"No. No I don't."

Truthfully, I wasn't even the slightest bit surprised or upset that he didn't. No right minded person should believe anything I said. It was good luck and ridiculously good circumstances that had gotten Dad and Inokatsu to listen to me long enough to prove myself. So while I wasn't bothered that he'd decided the story was crazy, I just expected him to be less of an asshole about it. The fear I'd been feeling initially had evaporated in the face of his insulting dismissiveness. I was angry. It was bad enough that my own father, even after I'd told him everything, would still talk down to me like I was an idiot child sometimes.

(I hated it. I hated it. I hated it, I wanted to climb over the table and throw the scalding hot tea in his face and-)

I blinked. Then took a breath through my nose.

"Okay."

I took several steps forward and as smoothly as I could manage, seated myself at the table in front of Danzo. He stared back at me blankly for half a minute before arching an eyebrow at me questioningly.

"You don't have to believe me." I felt Dad lower himself to sit at the table beside me. "But you at least have to listen to me because you said you'd... indulge me."

"You think trying to make me listen to more of your wild story will make me any more willing to actually consider what you say to be true?" Danzo's eyes slid from me to Dad. "I don't know whether to call that persistence or foolishness. Maybe I'd be better off saying it was both."

Another breath through my nose.

It was easier this time than the last time, to fend off violent urges. Especially now that I had a good idea of what he was doing. The Danzo Shimura I had read about was first and foremost the only evil genius who wanted to save Konoha as opposed to destroy it, and then a bastard second. So there was a point to all of this bastardness and it wasn't simply being a bastard for the sake of being a bastard who liked to pick on a little girl for shits and giggles. He was baiting me to get some kind of rise or reaction out of me. The only thing I could guess was that this had to be some kind of test. I didn't understand exactly what I was being tested for, but I sure as hell wasn't going to let him rile me so easily.

And, I thought as I snuck a peek out of the corner of my eye at Dad, I was starting to think that Dad might be in on it too.

Maybe.

"I'd rather try and fail to… convince you, then fail to try and never know if it would've worked," I said after the long silence, "It will help me sleep better knowing I did try."

Danzo hummed a thoughtful noise.

"Then you may try."

I nodded and began.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy. His name was Naruto Uzumaki and he was the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox Demon. _He…_"

* * *

The man was unexpectedly respectful and quiet throughout my attempt to make him believe. I thought he'd be jumping in at every moment asking questions or demanding clarifications, but he hadn't interrupted me a single time during my telling.

Jiraiya's teaching methods when showing me how to read or write had influenced the way I went about saying things, and it was almost second nature to just start telling a story. My storytelling abilities weren't perfect thanks to my imperfect grasp of the language, but it was my hope that I'd done what justice I could to Naruto's story. Hopefully, I was at least more coherent this time than I had been when I'd told my father for the first time. I'd had to condense the series a bit so I could focus on the important details. I needed to make sure that if this would be the only time I met with Danzo before he threw me out on my and denounced me a liar and a crazy person, I'd impress upon him some of the key events. With time and only a little change in the timeline of events, he might come to realize I was telling the truth.

I'd just finished describing his final, and fatal, confrontation with Team Taka when a single word from him cut through my words.

"No."

"No what?" I asked, surprised and yet also unsurprised that this was the first and only time he'd interrupted me after so long.

"I refuse to believe that a damn Uchiha kills me," he muttered darkly, "No, I take that back. I refuse to believe that it was any Uchiha less than the masked man or the genius from that thrice damned clan that killed me."

"I wasn't a fan of Sasuke," I said as Danzo's words faded into incomprehensible grumbles, "But he was strong enough to kill a… couple S-rank… missing nin. That and he wanted to kill you more than you wanted to kill him."

"Psychotic, spoiled whelp." He poured himself another cup of tea. "I don't know what I could've been thinking. If I'd been smart, I would've just smothered the brat in his sleep myself and just had his brother killed."

I caught myself in a nod. Intellectually, I knew he was right. No survivors was the best policy when you meant to have entire group assassinated. Especially when the survivors happened to be people like Itachi and Sasuke whose actions, well intended or not, would cause so many peoples' suffering.

But…

(_Children!_ They were children! How could you ever think that killing children is _right_?)

Disgust churned in my belly.

"It would have been better if there had been no… massacre," I finally whispered.

"Death is what comes to those who seek to commit treason," Danzo intoned, giving me a measured look, "Even if you may not be a child, you are not, nor were you ever, a ninja. You cannot begin to understand the decisions ninja, on the battlefield and off the battlefield, must make. What we must do to protect our village. If people, even an entire clan, are deemed a threat that must be eliminated to protect Konoha and its peace, then it is a decision I can make without hesitation. And you may not understand it, but being able to make those kinds of decisions doesn't make me monster. It makes me a good ninja."

"It's not that I don't understand." His expression became skeptical. "I just that I don't like it. I don't like fighting. And I don't like death. And I really don't like it when people die... and they are... innocent."

"Those kinds of sentiments will do you no good in this world." For the first time since we'd begun speaking, he emoted honestly enough to sneer at me. "Especially not if you expect to become a ninja."

Something in me had decided I wasn't going to be cowed by him in this, that this was the line. I was done trying to pass whatever test this was supposed to be. I'd come to ask for his help, not to let him walk all over me. He wasn't allowed to spit on my feelings and he wasn't going to bully me out of my morals. If I had my way, I'd put plans in motion that would ensure the massacre would never happen. Or at least, not the same way. Nowhere in my heart would the idea of killing an entire clan, men, women, and children, be right. If there was even a single person innocent, ignorant, of the plans of treason, then they didn't deserve execution for crimes of others.

"When I... become a ninja - and I will, I swear it - I will kill people even though I don't want to, and people will die even when I try to save them, and I'll have to deal with many... ugly, horrible people. Even during those times, I hope I can still have those... sentiments.

"I don't know if I'll ever... match your idea of what a good ninja is, but I will always be a sentimental ninja who... protects my village with all I am," I told him, with more force and confidence than I thought I was capable of having speaking to this man of all people.

"I see," he said, stopping to take a sip of his tea, "I think we're done for today then, Hiruzen."

Dad made a noise of assent and moved to get up and take me with him.

Whatever build up that was left over from my outburst left me in that moment. That was it? We were done? I hadn't even asked him to help me yet, and that had been what I'd come for in the first place! Though, I supposed, it wasn't likely he'd be willing to help if he refused to believe what both Dad and I told him was true. Did that mean that I'd failed at changing his mind? My mind reeled before latching onto something. When he'd stopped me to talk about the Uchiha. He'd been talking to me as if what I'd been telling him was real.

"Do you believe me now?" I asked before Dad could pull me away.

"No."

"But when we were talking about the Uchiha Massacre...?" I started to say.

"We were speaking hypothetically."

_Hypothetically._

If Jiraiya didn't use that so much when he talked about plot ideas he thought of pursuing, I wouldn't have understood what Danzo meant by it. But I understood.

_Hypothetically._

Sneaky, close minded bastard.

"We should talk again."

"Why?" he asked.

"It was interesting having that… hypo… thetical talk with you. I would like to… continue having those kinds of talks with you," I answered slow and deliberate, to mask my desperation to get him to say yes to keep our talk going.

"Hmm. I suppose it was an intriguing conversation," he remarked offhandedly, "And you never finished the story."

There. That was it. He wanted to hear the rest of the story. A plan formed and I jumped at it. I didn't know who I should thank more, Jiraiya or Scheherazade, for having taught me some of the lessons that were pretty much saving my ass here at the end.

"If we can have another talk, I will tell you the rest," I promised.

While it was true, I hadn't finished my story, what he didn't know what that the story didn't have an end. I certainly didn't know it. Even Dad didn't know that much. If a story didn't have an end, how could I ever finish it? It was a gamble, a gamble that probably depended too heavily both on how interested he was and how good I could spin a story. Just how would he react once he figured out my deception? This was as much a gamble as it had been trying to push his willingness to indulge me in the very beginning. But hell if I wasn't going to take advantage of every opening presented and run with it.

(It wasn't like he'd go chopping my head off or anything drastic like that. I think.)

It took all the willpower I had in me not to collapse in relief or maybe cackle like a loon, when Danzo finally dipped his head in acceptance of the deal. Feeling everything from intensely grateful, to wickedly satisfied, to mentally exhausted, I bowed to him in parting and allowed Dad to take my hand and lead me out. And if my knees wobbled a bit as we passed through the noren at the entrance of the tea shop, he didn't comment on it.

What he did do, however, was move his hand so it rested on my neck and squeezed it lightly.

"That was a job well done."

I beamed at him.

"Un!"

* * *

**AN:** I'll begin with an apology to all of you guys. I'm sorry I fell behind. I'd been setting a really nice pace, a chapter every one and a half to two weeks. But this chapter is more than a month late, and that's mostly because I didn't anticipate getting so busy over October and then getting sick (post-midterm crashes are the worst). I will try to be better, and if I get busy, I'll let you guys know in my profile so you can have a better idea of when to expect updates.

Notes on the chapter: Danzo. That son-of-bitch. He's really hard to write. I might have built him up in my head too much, but I'm afraid of not being able to properly capture his evil mastermind. I'm kind of an idiot, so I'm afraid he'll only be as smart as I am on my best days. Hopefully, this chapter is beginning to give you an idea of why Danzo is marked as a main character of this. Now enough about him. Nawaki's team, have any special feelings about them? Let me know. I'm a little nervous about my OC making abilities, so whatever feedback you have on them, I'd appreciate. Finally, Nebari Teahouse. That was me trying to be clever.

Hope you guys enjoyed and you can expect my next chapter in about two weeks.


	5. Chapter Four: The Games We Play

Chapter** Four: **The Games We Play

* * *

The War loomed in the background, always on the periphery of the separate peace within Konoha's walls. Time seemed to always be slipping away from me as the next year became a blur of training of all kinds and many a hypothetical chat.

It seemed as if I was always struggling to make time for everything else around my intense commitment to my training regime, that only seemed to be getting busier as time went on. There were still mornings where I woke up and wondered what the heck I was doing, however, those mornings were becoming few and far between.

Mom had been supportive of my training from the very beginning. The first time I came home with a scratch on my cheek and bruised knuckles for her to see, she'd knelt to my level and kissed my cheek, right on the scratch.

"I know you're smart sweetie, which is I why I think you know what's going on. That there are bad things going on. If this," she took my hands gingerly with her own and ran glowing green fingertips over the knuckles, "Is what you're going to choose to do, you're going to have to be more than just smart. You're going to have to be strong. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"The life of a ninja is hard. And for us girls, us women, it's even harder. You'll have to work harder, do better, than any man, to prove you belong out there, where it's bad. You have to be strong."

"Like you and Tsunade-hime?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, like us, and like every other female ninja out there who has proven herself worthy." And then she kissed my knuckles. "And like you, when you've proven yourself as well. Just make sure you remember that there are times when you have to be strong, and times you don't." She smiled again. "Now, let's you and me go put Aito-chan to bed together, okay?"

Since then, every morning before I even thought about going out for my jog, I padded into the kitchen and went to help Mom make breakfast. I had always known how to cook, but relearning how to handle a pan or a knife with my small hands took time. Mom would stop every now and then, to circle her arms around me and guide my hands with hers. She'd tell me about the hospital as we cooked. She'd tell me about all the little things she'd hear when the silly nurses thought she wasn't listening in on their gossip. There was something comforting knowing that the nurses still had time to chatter even when injured men were constantly pouring into hospital from the front.

Mornings like this were probably the highlight of my day. I didn't have to get dirty or sweaty. I didn't get beat up. And I didn't have to expend all my mental energies trying to out think a man I was sure was always several steps ahead of me.

"_Ahhh_, ototou!" I said opening my own mouth wide so that he'd mimic me, "Open... wide so nee-chan can feed you!"

He squinted at me and pursed his lips instead.

"Ai no."

"Come on, help nee-chan out here." I tilted my head and gave him a pleading look. "You must be hungry, right?"

I waved the loaded spoon in his face.

If it was possible his eyes went squintier and his lips more pursed.

"Please?" I tried again, trying to wave the spoon in tantalizing aerial patterns. "For nee-chan?"

"...nee-tan?"

I almost dropped the spoon. It was just hanging limply from my fingers at his nose level. His eyes screwed up to stare down at it before he seized it and started smearing the spoon's contents on his face.

"Nanako? Why is Aito-chan painting his face with pumpkin?" Mom asked.

When I didn't respond, she asked again, touching my shoulder lightly.

"Aito-chan, h-he..." I stuttered.

"Nanako?"

"He called me..."

"Nee-tan!" Aito chirruped at me before going back to playing with his acquisitioned spoon. "Ai! Ai! Ai!"

"His first word! Your father is going to be so excited when he hears!" Mom exclaimed, clapping her hands together, "Somehow, I'm not even the slightest bit surprised or jealous that that was his first. He's going to be a nee-chan's boy for sure."

I smiled a little guiltily at her.

(It wasn't like she needed to know that this was only his first word in Japanese.)

"That's right, ototou, I'm your nee-chan," I murmured at him, raising a napkin in my other hand and wiping his face with it.

"Nee-tan!" he parroted back before trying to play tug-a-war with the napkin.

"Kami-sama, you two need to stop being so precious," I heard Mom say in mock exasperation, "I don't know how much more I can take."

"I think Aito-chan can't help it." I laughed to myself as I managed to catch the squirming infant when he was still long enough to swipe at the last spot on his nose. "Say 'nee-chan' again ototou."

"Ai! Ai! Ai!"

"I tried." I could hear Mom still chuckling at my shoulder, "Let's get you fed the rest of your food before nee-chan has to go on her jog, okay?"

"Ai!"

* * *

_The bells on the noren tinkled like the always did whenever I passed through them. The sound drew the attention of several customers and the "couple" who ran the tea house. It was Rina-san, as always, who engaged me. Every time I received a summons, it had a location somewhere in Konoha that I had to go to retrieve a "pass" for the meetings. Plastering what I knew as my shy smile onto my face, I held the little flower out to her._

_"Why isn't that pretty. Thank you!" she'd respond, "How about you come to the back and I'll give you a treat?"_

_I would just nod excitedly, and follow her to the back room where Danzo was waiting for me. Our talk would begin like it always would, with him asking me to tell a certain part in more detail. As always, eventually, we'd get sidetracked._

_"What is this love you seem to bare for the Uchiha?" Danzo asked this particular time, "I would have thought that being Hiruzen's daughter and friends with the Senju heirs would sour you towards them."_

_"I don't care about the Uchiha. At least, no more or less than any other clan. They are all people. Where I came from, my... country, we believed that all men are created... equal. That is something I still believe, clan or no clan."_

_"That is an interesting idea. And a dangerous one."_

_I didn't disagree._

* * *

Today was a rare day of no training.

Mom had told me that she needed my help with a special errand earlier in the week. It was no trouble clearing my schedule so I could give her a hand. She explained to me that she had a friend who she wanted to visit but couldn't because she was busy. We were going to make homemade daifuku together and then she was going to go to work and have me deliver them to her friend's house. It had sounded like a really nice and thoughtful gesture. I remembered days when money was tight and sometimes, the only gift I could give was one I could make with what I had available. People always seemed to appreciate them more when you made them.

We got up early so that we could have the cakes done around the same time as breakfast. The recipe was a little complex but it was alright since Mom left the easy stuff to me, like measuring the ingredients and setting the timer for baking. Decorating cakes was the most fun part though. I recognized the symbol Mom had chosen to press into the tops of the cakes. It was a spiral that looked a lot like the Uzumaki clan symbol that all the ninja had stitched into their shirts and flak jackets. I wondered if Mom's friend was an Uzumaki.

(A shiver ran up my spine thinking of a certain Uzumaki I still actively tried to avoid.)

When I looked at the semi-formal kimono Mom had picked out for me to wear for the visit, my suspicions about just who I was going to be seeing went up. They were all but confirmed, in a sense, when my Mom told me where and to whom exactly I was giving the cakes to.

"You're heading to the Senju compound," she told me as she handed me the cloth wrapped bundle of daifuku, "You've been there before, when we went to have dinner with Tsunade-chan and Nawaki-kun not so long ago."

I nodded.

"When you arrive at the gates, you'll ask to see Mito Senju and tell them that I sent you. They should let you in by that point. So what are you going to do?"

"Go to the Senju compound, ask for Mito Senju-sama, tell them you sent me, and give her the cakes," I answered easily, though my mind was spinning.

"Exactly." She bent so that she could adjust the kimono collar and smooth my hair down. "She'll probably want to sit with you and talk for a bit. I'd tell you to be on your best behavior, but I know you'll be perfect for Mito-sama."

We parted at the gate outside of the Sarutobi clan compound, Mom waving goodbye to both me and the guards before heading deeper into the village where the hospital was. I watched her go for a minute, and then began to walk in the opposite direction. The Senju clan's compound was located on the eastern side of Konoha, near the main gate. It would be a slightly shorter walk than the one I'd make if I was heading to the training grounds Team Kanda used, or even the one I'd make to reach the district where Nebari Tea House was located.

As I walked, I wondered at what Mito would be like. It had never occurred to me in all the time I'd been here that the old Uzumaki woman could still be alive in this time. All of my plans, all my knowledge of this world, were so far into the future that I let myself forget how unfamiliar I was with the present. Something, that I was realizing now, had been mistake. I was making steps to change the future, to change myself, but I hadn't taken enough time to stop and look around at the world. This world was rich with a history that all my memories of another life only just scratched the surface of.

Another step, and another realization hit me. What better history resource was there than living history?

It was a close thing, holding myself back from running the rest of the way. If I tried to move any faster than the quick shuffle I was doing now, my kimono would fall open. I certainly wasn't going to go flashing my business off to the whole of Konoha. Nor was I going to be calling on Mito looking like a scruffy mess. The Senju guards would probably shoo me away the minute they caught sight of me. Once I reached the gates, my clothing and hair all tidy and in place, I rattled off the information Mom told me to tell them and was let in.

"Nana-hime? What're you doing here?"

My head snapped in the direction I heard the name come from. I knew exactly who it was that would call me by that ridiculous nickname.

"Hi Nawaki-kun," I greeted, watching as he ambled over to me, "I'm here to visit Mito-sama."

"Whatchya wanna see Mito-obaasan for?" Nawaki asked, his eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

I resisted the urge to try and reach up and pinch his cheeks and call him cute. Nawaki was sometimes on Aito levels of adorable. All these cute kids made _me _feel like a grandma, wanting to coddle them instead of the other way around.

"My kasan sent me in her place to visit and bring her some daifuku," I answered.

A giggle slipped out of my mouth as I watched Nawaki begin to visibly salivate.

"Daifuku?" His arm crept up and his fingers twitched at the cakes. "Did your Mom make them?"

"Yes." I danced away a couple of steps as nimbly as I could in my kimono, having anticipated his snatch-and-grab attempt. "And no, you can't have any. She made these special for Mito-sama."

"But Nana-hime!" Nawaki whined, "I'm sure obaasan won't mind if there was one missing..."

"No is no Nawaki-kun." I glanced at him noting his heavier than usual looking pack. "Are you going on a mission today?"

"Yeah, another outpost one," he replied with a pout, "I wish we'd get more exciting stuff more often."

I frowned. It wasn't like Nawaki knew it, but his team was getting was more action than most genin saw in their first six months after graduation. Jiraiya had regaled me with woeful tellings of the many D-ranks he and Team Hiruzen had to take before they could even be bumped up to a C-rank. The fact that this was the third C-rank mission Team Kanda had received since formation only four months ago really said something about the state of affairs in the village.

"You packed everything you need right?" I demanded, "Medical... supplies, food, weapons?"

With an exasperated grin, he nodded, slipping his backpack off his shoulder and opening it so I could poke around and see if he had. This was our ritual. If Nawaki had time to tell me he was going on a mission, I'd make sure to check his bag to see he was properly prepared. After a couple seconds of rifling through his stuff, I was satisfied.

"You're turning into nee-san with all that mother henning stuff you do Nana-hime," he joked as he zipped his pack back up.

I shrugged.

"But you know, now that I think about it, I probably don't have enough food! You really ought to give me at least one cake. Please?" He shot me puppy dog eyes. "I might starveeee!"

"Nawaki-kun," I said, pulling a face at him, "That's not fair."

His eyes glinted deviously.

"You wouldn't want your bestest friend in the world to go out on a mission and die of starvation would you?" he wheedled.

I mumbled a long a drawn out "no", hating the way my resolve to deny him had crumbled so easily.

A look of triumph flashed across his face as he started hopping up and down. I could hear the guard at my left, who had been called to take me to Mito, snickering at us. Scowling, I ignored him and pulled one of the wrapped cakes out of my bag and gave it to Nawaki. It couldn't hurt to give him _just one_, I reasoned with myself.

"Yatta!" he cheered.

"Save it for later," I groused at the boy who looked ready to inhale it then and there, "You shouldn't eat cake in the morning."

"So naggy," he teased, but did as I said and put it away in his bag.

The minute he was done, I shuffled forwards and put my arms around his middle and his immediately went to rest around my shoulders.

"Stay safe and come home, okay?"

"Will do, hime."

We let each other go and he gave me jaunty wave goodbye before dashing off.

The guard cleared his throat a second later to remind me he was still there. Once he was sure I was ready to follow, he led me into the compound. All the Senju homes were beautiful to look at. Tsunade had once explained to me that her grandfather had used his mokuton ability to build all of the homes within the walls of the compound and he'd put his heart into their creation. The building the guard led me to wasn't the largest, nor was it the most elaborate looking. It looked sturdy, however, and the structure seemed to be built in a circular design. Just above the threshold, on either side of the Senju clan symbol that had been carved into the wood, there was an Uzumaki spiral.

Entering the building was like entering a maze. It was likely I'd need an escort to help me out once it was time to leave. After lots of twisting and turning, and a flight or two of stairs to climb, I found myself at a door. The serving girl I'd been passed off to at the entrance led me to a door and touched a spot that flickered momentarily with a glow. A muffled sound came from the other side, and then the serving girl opened the door for me.

My eyes were drawn immediately to the person seated at the large window of the spacious sitting room. Mito had turned to face me and my eyes roved over her. I knew in a second that I liked her. Maybe it was because I was absolutely fascinated by the way she wore her hair in those cute double buns. Maybe it was because her kind, welcoming smile that it seemed all sweet little grandmothers had made a patented technique put me utterly at ease.

"Come," she beckoned, "There's a seat here for you."

She motioned with an outstretched arm to the other chair placed at the window opposite her. I went to take it, and was pleasantly surprised by the fact that the chair wasn't too high. Too often I had to deal with tall chairs. I really didn't know what I would've done if it had been tall.

"That was my son's chair," Mito suddenly said, as if she'd read my thoughts, "I had it made long ago so we could sit together, and talk. I like it very much when people come to speak with me. Not many but my grandson have time for it these days."

I stared at her, quiet, waiting. She stared back.

"Both your mother and father have always been very good to me. Did you know," her eyes lit up and she leaned in closer to me, "That my husband and his brother once taught your father?"

I nodded. Everyone had been told stories of their hokages. It would be unthinkable that the daughter of a hokage hadn't heard the stories herself.

"He was always such a sweet and energetic boy. Several years younger than my own. Your father used to always follow my Kazuki around, calling him boss, begging him to train him. It was so adorable," she said, the skin around her eyes crinkling in happy remembrance, "My grandson recently started telling me stories about how some little girl had started following him and his team around begging to be trained. You can imagine my surprise when after asking to hear more about this little girl, it turned out to be none other than little Hiru-chan's little girl trailing after him, much like Hiru-chan had trailed after his own father."

It was probably rude, gaping the way I was, but it was the most neutral reaction I had in my arsenal. I could have squealed in embarrassment at the tales Nawaki had probably been carrying back to his grandmother. Or roared with laughter at the atrocious nickname she had for Dad. Instead, I settled for just gaping.

"History has an unfortunate way of repeating itself sometimes, but in this case, I am glad for it," Mito continued, "I asked your mother to send you to me because I wanted to see the next generation of the Sarutobi clan. You will be like your father before you, following after my grandchildren, watching over them. Already, I can see the Will of Fire burning brightly in you. That's all I need to see to know that you will."

Though her smile was still kind and inviting, the look in those blazing blue eyes of hers took me aback. They were not foggy with age, nor were they soft like a grandmother's anymore. Cold, hard, steely determination the likes of which could not be old and feeble, or soft and grandmotherly. This truly was the matriarch of the Senju clan. The woman who had sealed the Nine Tails into her own body to insure the defeat of Madara.

My mouth, having only just managed to shut, twitched up the slightest at the corners before tilting into a full on grin. How strange it was that every time I met an adult, I was always being assessed and scrutinized so they could find my worth. Did age make everyone like this? I internally chastised myself for expecting anything less. Anyone who could survive this long in this world was still alive for a reason. And, I decided, I wouldn't fault Mito for trying a little bit of well-intentioned manipulation on me. Not when our goals were pretty much the same.

"I'll take really good care of Nawaki-kun and Tsunade-hime," I told her, meaning it, "Although I'm going to have to work really hard to watch Nawaki-kun's back! Did you know he almost _always_ forgets to pack extra bandages?"

The intense look faded from her eyes as she settled back to listen to me mindlessly rant and babble about how reckless Nawaki could be and how I planned to be a pretty and strong ninja like Tsunade. A look out the window at the sun a couple minutes later told me it was already almost noon. I offered her some of the daifuku before I pressed my luck and asked her about the past. About the First Hokage, about Madara, about my father when he was young, about the Uzumaki. She smiled easily and told me everything between bites.

By the end of the visit, most of the cakes were gone, and Mito was reluctantly sending me back home.

"I would like it if you came back some time Nanako-chan," she offered, "I can tell there is so much more you'd like to know."

"If you wouldn't mind me visiting again..."

I tipped my head down a bit, peered up through my bangs hopefully, and scuffed at the ground with my foot.

"I'd love it if you would." She laid a hand on my head and patted it a bit. "You're such a dear, just like your mother said. I'll arrange another visit with your parents. Is that acceptable to you?"

"Yes," I answered.

"Excellent. Now run along home. We'll see each other again soon."

"Soon," I repeated, satisfaction seeping into my voice.

* * *

_A grainy black and white photograph was placed on the table in front of me. The face that stared up at me was that of a sullen looking pale haired girl. She seemed like she was about my age. After another futile moment of staring at the picture, trying to figure out what the point of it was, I looked up at Danzo. My cheeks burned with my humiliation. At being unable to understand the importance of the girl he was so obviously trying to test me with._

_"Who is she?"_

_If my confusion surprised or amused him, he didn't let it show._

_"Her name is Nonou Yakushi."_

_"What?" I said, blinking in shock before my eyes darted back down to the photograph._

_This was Nonou Yakushi? There was no way I ever would have guessed that. None of the softness I'd expected of a future orphanage matron could be seen in her face. The girl staring out of the photo looked depressed and angry at the world._

_The shock soon faded away as I narrowed my gaze at Danzo._

_"Why did you show me this?"_

_All he did was smirk at me, tuck the photo back into his sleeve, and ask me to continue where I had left off during the Battle of the Sannin._

* * *

"Inokatsu-san has invited you to his son's birthday," Dad said one day out of the blue.

I looked up from the drawing I'd been lazily doodling for the last half hour as I lay on the floor of his office on my stomach, to gawk at him. He looked at me questioningly.

"He wants me to go to Inoichi's birthday?" I asked.

"I may have inferred to him that you don't get to play with many children your own age," he answered, returning his gaze to the papers he was writing on.

"So you're saying that Inokatsu-san offered me a... pity invitation to Inoichi's birthday party?"

"Ah..." Dad started, his eyes snapping back up.

"Basically yes," I sniffed, "You made me out to be a... social char'ty case so Inokatsu-san would feel bad for me. Really, thanks tousan. It's not like Nawaki-kun and his team are my friends or anything."

"I didn't mean it like that," he protested with a frown.

"Then how did you mean it?"

"Well, truthfully, you don't have any friends your age. Nawaki-kun and his teammates are many years older than you. Inokatsu-san's son might make for a more age appropriate friend."

I bristled.

"Wait, so you're telling me that Nawaki-kun, Chouzu-kun, and Meiko-kun aren't good enough friends because they're too old?"

"No," Dad said firmly, "They are all perfectly fine for friends. What I was trying to say is, I think you should try to make some friends closer to your own age so that when you go to the Academy, you won't have to go alone."

"Oh." I bit my lips. Yeah, that made sense. "I see. Sorry. I didn't mean to-"

I stopped when I saw his hand rise.

"It's alright Nanako. I should've been clearer. I know that you're very protective of who you care about. It's a good quality to have." I shot him an apologetic smile that he nodded at. "Also, think of it this way: it's likely children of other prominent clans will probably be invited to his son's birthday party as well. At least a Nara and an Akimichi are sure to be there. This is an opportunity-"

"To make a lot of important friends," I finished for him.

I really wanted to say something more eloquent, like networking, or shmoozing for future political allies, but I didn't have the vocabulary for that kind of wording yet. "Important friends" seemed apt enough. At least, Dad seemed to think so if his approving nod was any indication.

"So are you interested in going?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered, "A little terrified, but interested."

"Ah, good. I will give Inokatsu-san your response. He will be very excited to know you are coming."

That was how I found myself being escorted to the Yamanaka compound by an ANBU with a present I hadn't bought tucked under my arm. The ANBU in question was my guard. I'd never realized I'd had one until I started going places on my own. He always accompanied me on my jogs and random wanderings around Konoha. Dad had introduced me to him only a couple of weeks ago after I'd noticed for the first time. His designation was Ox and the only other distinguishing feature he had was longish grey hair that was pulled back into a short ponytail at the nape of his neck. It was vaguely disappointing that whenever I tried to prod him into conversation, he'd only ever answer with as little words as possible.

Today, he had henged into a random villager and was walking in the same direction down the road as I was, several paces away and a little ahead. He was leading me to where the Yamanaka's lived since I didn't have a clue as to where it was located. Once the gates were in sight, he motioned me to continue on without him, turned down a corner, and disappeared.

(Ox took the cloak and dagger stuff really seriously.)

A tall woman was standing at the gate and, once she spotted me heading in her direction, called me over.

"You're here for the young master's party?" she asked, tapping her pen on clipboard in her hand.

"Yes, I am Nanako Sarutobi."

The woman hummed a note of acknowledgement as her eyes fell to the clipboard.

"Ah, I see you here. Welcome Sarutobi-san."

I nodded politely to her and entered the compound. It only took me a moment to find my way to the party. There were many people bustling about, all coming from or going to the same place. My feelings of anxiety started to climb. There were so many adults and not a single one of them was Inokatsu. It wasn't hard to pick out the Yamanaka by their bright hair coloring, the Nara by their slouches, or the Akimichi by their large frames. I scuttled behind a cherry blossom tree, not wanting to be seen just yet.

Looking up contemplatively, I shrugged, rolled up my sleeves, and climbed up the tree. I climbed until I was high enough in the branches to survey my surroundings below...

And shrieked in surprise when I found myself face to face with another person.

"Shh!" I heard them shush, just as I felt a hand slap onto my mouth.

I struggled in vain.

"Would you please calm down?" the person whispered at me, their other hand going to catch both my wrists.

The proper response to being grabbed should've been to fight, but I knew who had me. Even if I had only met him once I could afford him some trust.

"I'm going to take my hand away now. You're not gonna scream, right?" Minato asked carefully.

I shook my head slowly, and he stared at me a little longer before easing out a breath. Then he took his hand away from my face and let go of my wrists. Peering questioningly at me from under his golden fringe, we sat in silence for a moment.

"Hi..." I started uncertainly.

"I remember you," he said, recognition dawning on him.

I winced.

"Sorry about that. And thanks. I didn't mean to make her mad. I actually think her hair is pretty. And really red," I babbled.

"I think it's pretty too," Minato admitted, cutting me off before I embarrassed myself further, "So who are you? Are you here for Inoichi's party?"

"I'm Nanako," I answered, glancing away evasively, "Inoichi's dad told my dad I was invited, so I came."

"Ah," he said, "You must be a clan kid then. Their parents do that kind of thing."

"Ah, yeah. I guess," I nodded along, "What about you?"

"I'm Minato. Inoichi and I are classmates at the Academy," Minato explained, "We're friends, sorta."

"Sorta?"

"The day we met, he said something about blonds needing to stick together, and then said we were friends." He shrugged. "Inoichi might be a crazy person."

"I think that makes you friends," I said quietly, "Not just sorta."

"I guess it does." His smile drooped a little. "If only that kind of approach worked on everyone."

"Well, um..." Impulse was really a terrible, wonderful thing. "We're both sitting in a tree. Maybe we ought to be friends?" I offered shyly.

"So we're friends then?" he asked, cocking his head playfully, "You're a crazy person too, aren't you?"

"The best people are," I couldn't help but reply.

"Oi!" someone cried out before Minato could respond, "I found Minato guys!"

Minato's eyes went round.

"Oh dear Kami," he whispered, "He's found me."

"He?"

"Inoichi."

"Come down _Minatooooooo_!" the someone sing-songed. "I know you're up there!"

A tortured noise warbled pitifully in the back of Minato's throat.

"Nowhere to run," he muttered to himself grimly, before turning to me, "Will you come down with me?"

"Sure," I said, swallowing nervously, "I kind of owe you remember?"

"Thanks."

Then, Minato was jumping down from the tree. I almost yelped in surprise, but bit my tongue instead and started climbing down to follow him. Once my feet were safely on the ground, I looked around for him. There he was, a long suffering look on his face, with another boy with dirty blond hair pulled back into a short ponytail tugging insistently on his arm. Standing off to the side was a gaggle of children, watching the spectacle with varying levels of interest. Inoichi paused in his harassment of Minato when he noticed me watching on.

"Hey, who's that?" he demanded, eying me suspiciously.

"This is Nanako," Minato answered before I could.

Inoichi gasped and pointed a finger at me.

"You're the one my dad was telling me about!" he exclaimed, "The daughter of the Hokage!"

Our audience burst into excited whispers. Minato's head snapped in my direction. I shrunk a bit into myself.

"Um, yeah, hi," I said back, "You're Inoichi-san, right?"

"Yes I am!" He released Minato and darted over to me. With a grin, he dipped a bow that was surprisingly graceful considering his age and what I had seen of his personality so far. "It is nice to meet you Nanako-hime."

"Is she really a princess?" one of the children in the gathering whispered to another.

"Wow a princess!"

"I dunno, she doesn't look very princess-y..."

"Nice to meet you too," I returned with a bow, only just remembering my manners over my internal horror at the name.

"We're going to play a game of ninja!" Inoichi suddenly announced, "I'm going to be the hokage, Minato, Shikaku, and Chouza," I glanced at each boy he pointed at, filing away their faces for future reference, "Will be my ninja generals, and Tsume," I blinked in surprise as I picked out a wild haired girl whose head popped up when she was addressed, "Will be the evil sand ninja who kidnaps Nanako-hime, our princess. The rest of you will be my army!"

As children were wont to do, many started complaining about what role they were assigned. Tsume in particular, was most vocal in her disapproval.

"Why do I have to be a princess?" I muttered with a scowl to Minato as we watched Inoichi argue with Tsume off to the side.

"Cause you're sorta like a real princess," Minato replied, "Which you didn't tell me earlier. How come?"

"I'm not a princess." My scowl grew deeper. "I'm just Nanako. I'm really not a princess. I'm more like something else. Anything that isn't a princess. Really."

He gave me a look.

"It's my birthday and I said so, so there!" Inoichi finally yelled, effectively ending the argument.

Tsume hemmed and hawed a bit before huffing and trotting over to me.

"I'm kidnapping you," she informed me gruffly.

"Oh." I shot a glare at Minato, who was snickering at me behind the collar of his jacket. "Okay.

"Aren't you supposed to scream and stuff like princesses do when they're being kidnapped?" Tsume asked.

I shook my head.

"I don't want to make your job hard."

"Well." She paused and shuffled awkwardly. "Um, thanks then. I'm Tsume by the way. Tsume Inuzuka."

"Nice to meet you Tsume-san," I said with a bow, "I'm Nanako."

"Stop that!" Tsume shared a look with Minato, and snickered. "We're kids. Bowing's grown up stuff. And it's Tsume. No 'san.' Got it?"

I nodded.

"Good. Now," she held out a hand to me, "Come on, let's go before this guy," she gestured at Minato, " tries to stop us."

We both looked at Minato and he stared blankly back before shrugging and shuffling off.

"Hey, Tsume where do you think you're doing?" Inoichi shouted when he noticed us making our break for it.

Tsume turned and stuck her tongue out at him, her canines flashing as she did so.

"I'm being a bad guy like you told me to!"

I laughed as I let Tsume drag me off, watching as Inoichi squawked indignantly and tried to rally his underage masses.

They never did catch us. At least, Tsume refused to admit we were caught. After twenty minutes of a fantastic goose chase, she decided to quit. Then she dragged me to the food tables where a kind faced Akimichi woman loaded up our plates with a lot more than we could eat in one sitting. Inoichi complained when he saw us, but he too succumbed to his stomach and declared the game over in favor of everyone stuffing their faces.

It started with Minato coming over to sit with Tsume and me. Then Inoichi came trailing after him with Shikaku grumbling and Chouza snacking along. The other kids didn't want to be left out since, for most of them, the only reason they were at the party in the first place was _for _Inoichi. And so I found myself sitting in a sea of children. Tsume at my left chatting with Chouza about the puppy her dad was planning to give her once she started at the Academy. Minato at my right trying desperately to ignore Inoichi yammering at him. Shikaku more lying down than sitting up near my feet. An Uchiha girl sitting on one side of the group and a Hyuuga boy on the other. And there many others, just sharing proximity with me.

I'd thought seeing just Minato and Kushina that one time had been something. This was something else. Something more. It was unnerving. It was fascinating.

I caught sight of Inokatsu standing not too far away, watching all of us. Watching me. A strange look was on his face. Our eyes met for a moment and the strange look faded into a smile.

As the guests, adults and children alike, started to leave, I took it as a sign that I should do so as well. Before I could do more than start to creep away, I was stopped by my new acquaintances.

(_Friends._)

"Come by the Academy some time!" Inoichi cried, Inokatsu standing at his shoulder with a hand on his head.

"You ought to join this spring. _I'm _starting this spring. We should be in the same class," Tsume insisted, poking, prodding, and basically invading my space like an over-enthusiastic puppy.

"If you do come," Minato said last, with a conspiratorial look, "I'll help you avoid _her_ if you help me avoid _him_."

"I..." I felt a little overcome. "Yeah. I'll see what I can do."

"Bye," I said timorously, waving goodbye and getting enthusiastic farewells back before scuttling off.

If I skipped home, neither Ox nor Dad commented on it.

* * *

_"The rinnegan user..." Danzo mumbled thoughtfully as he placed a white stone down, "What are your thoughts on him?"_

_I blinked._

_Up until now, Danzo had focused on asking questions about the actions of the masked man, Orochimaru, and Kabuto. I'd been expecting him to ask about Pein, about Nagato, much sooner. His avoidance of the topic had been making me anxious. At least Dad and Inokatsu had grasped the horror of someone who had the power to end Konoha all on his own. To be able to kill Jiraiya._

_One of these days, I'd be able to stop myself reacting every time I thought of one of my loved ones dying. If I had any hope of facing the future, of changing it, I had to learn to face what I feared more and more with every waking moment without hesitation._

_Looking at the board, I knew that my next move wouldn't change how badly he was beating me. I chose a spot at random and placed my black stone, mulling my answer over as I did so._

_"Powerful. Dangerous if he became our enemy."_

_White stone._

_"You said if." _

_"He does not need to be an enemy, if we do not want to make him one," I clarified, clumsily placing down another black, "Konoha played a large role in… ruining his life. If we stop the things that made him hate Konoha from happening, maybe he won't choose that path."_

_"Hmm."_

_He didn't speak again after that._

_I lost the game._

* * *

Once I'd passed the dandelion to Rina and been led to the back, I immediately noticed something was off. Danzo was standing.

"Danzo-sama."

I bowed, though my eyes never left him as I bent at the waist.

"Today will be different," he began, "Follow me."

He turned and walked to a wall. I was thoroughly unsurprised when he touched three different spots on the wall and then pushed on it with his palm to reveal a passageway. He walked through and I had to scramble to catch up so that I maintained a distance between us of several paces. The hall we passed through started as a hall, but soon began to resemble more of a tunnel. It got colder. Grayer. I wanted to speak up and ask where we were going, but I had learned with Danzo that I would never get a straight answer until it was too late for the answer to be helpful. It was better to _see _exactly what the man had in store for me rather than frustrate myself over thinking on each of his cryptic comments.

It was highly likely that most of the things he said were meant only to confound, fluster, and mislead me.

The worry I should've felt from the beginning only set in when we passed through an entryway and into a large space that seemed vaguely familiar. It was creepy. And the coldest place yet. There were pipelines running along the walls of concrete, disappearing into them. There was railing on either side of the walkway we were standing on, and I had little desire to stand at the edge and find out exactly what was below.

I was more preoccupied with faking calm and watching Danzo, who was now standing still with his back to me.

"Did you enjoy the party the other day?"

I stiffened.

"Yes," I replied uneasily.

He shifted a bit.

"Give me a personal assessment of how you believe your self-imposed training is going."

Of course Danzo knew about my training if he knew about Inoichi's party. I'd never told him myself, and it was foolish to assume he didn't know about it. He probably had people watching me all the time making their own assessments of my progress and reporting it to him. I swallowed dryly, forming my answer carefully before saying it out loud.

"My stamina is better. I can run and spar longer. I've memorized the basic Academy katas and can do them... adequately. With more work and... supervision, I can begin learning a different form. Maybe even the Sarutobi one. I've started kunai and shuriken practice, and my aim is very good for my 'age group'. I'm stuck at the meditation stage only, since I'm still not allowed to work with chakra. I've also started learning first aid and how to set traps."

There were several more skill sets I was considering picking up, but I wasn't going to list them now. Until I actually chose to do anything, they weren't important.

He remained quiet for a time, thinking over how I answered rather than what the answer was.

"Have you given any thought as to what field you wish to specialize in?"

"Yes," I answered, "I would like to be a medic nin if my chakra control is good enough."

"Hmm. Why?"

(Tsunade._ Nawaki. Dan._)

"Medic nin can be strong and healing is useful."

Danzo turned to face me, an eyebrow raised.

"You should be progressing faster, but I doubt that Hiruzen would allow for you to be pushed too far."

His nose wrinkled minutely and I could swear I could hear him muttering, like he always seemed to do when Dad came up in conversation, using words like "nepotism" and "soft" and "waste". I could feel the familiar stirrings of Danzo related anger rising. Sometimes I wished I could just lash out with them like I had the first time we had met. But this was different. I didn't have Dad this time. I was alone.

"I do appreciate, however, that you are proving to be much more industrious, pragmatic, and forward thinking than your father as it will best serve our mutual goals. I have a... proposal. Something I will need your cooperation on to work. Something that your father would likely reject if I put it forth to him. It may go over better if you were the one to bring it to him." He paused long enough to hand me the folder he'd been holding. "That is the first part of my proposal to you."

I opened the folder warily and found three pictures inside. My hands shook as I took hold of the pictures. They were candid shots. A bit blurry due to distance and the weather conditions they had been taken in. However, there was no mistaking exactly who was in each like I had with Nonou's.

He had found them.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, unable to stop the erratic tremor in my hands.

His smile was ugly.

"Make friends."

I knew as I stared down at the pictures, that when he said make friends, it was nothing like what Dad had meant when he had suggested making friends at Inoichi's party. I took a fortifying breath as I ran my fingers down one face in particular.

"I'll do it."

"Good," Danzo all but purred.

* * *

**AN:** I'm sorry again guys. I pulled another month long wait. Bad things happen, and when they do, writing gets pushed to the back burner. Hopefully, this is a happy new year for all of you, and for me as well. I won't make any resolutions about being better at updating because with me, sometimes you really don't know. But I'm putting some prayers out to the universe and multiple deities that things start going my way in 2013. It might help.

I'm going to be including a Japanese term glossary for each chapter here on out since I use some not commonly known Japanese words:

daifuku- literal translation is "great luck"; a mochi cake with sweet red bean paste in it  
hime- word and suffix for princess  
kasan- mother  
nee-chan- sister  
noren- those curtain things they put at entry ways  
nebari- roots of a bonsai tree  
obaasan- grandmother  
ototou- little brother  
yatta- a n exclamation of happiness

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and, again, I'm sorry for the wait and the unbeta'ed state of the chapter.


	6. Chapter Five: Walk Between Raindrops

**Chapter Five:** Walk Between Raindrops

* * *

All it took was a step to the left. I had been walking in the street for a while now, keeping to myself, my head down. My hunger and weariness had my feet plodding along clumsily as I weaved from side to side like a drunk. All it took was a step to the left to put myself in the path of a mass larger than my own careening towards me. The incredible speed it was moving at when its left side hit my own caused us to spin violently before falling sideways into the mud below. I gagged and spat at the taste of the muck that had gotten into my mouth because I had left it open while falling face first. From beside me came a groan and I abandoned my disgust to investigate the noise. The speeding mass that had knocked me off my feet and into the mud had been a boy.

He was definitely older than me, I could tell that much without being able to see his face behind all of that red (Red!) hair falling into it. If he stood, he'd probably have about half a foot on me if not more. His clothes consisted a pale yellow raincoat with the hood pulled up, dark pants, and sandals. His head snapped in my direction, and his mouth fell open.

"What…? I…"

Before he could say anything more, a large arm yanked him up by his hood. I didn't have any time to react either, because I soon found myself being given the same treatment as a hand grasped equal parts of my collar and hair and pulled me up. It didn't hurt, but it startled me and my first instinct was to curl into myself, my arms hugging my chest and legs folded up into my body. I must have looked ridiculous, like child sized bowling ball suspended from the man's fingers. The boy struggled, trying to break free from our captor.

"I finally caught you, you dirty thieves!" the man who held us up in the air crowed. "You thought you could keep running away from me, but this time, I caught you!"

"Wait!" the boy cried. "I-It was only m-me, the other kid had-had nothing to do with it. Let them go…"

"You think I'm not wise to your little schemes?" he snarled, dragging the boy close to his face. "You little rats travel in packs, working together to steal from us hard working folk! I let this one go, and I bet she'll just run off to go steal some more." He turned his head so he could lean in and sneer at me. "No, I think I'll turn you both in to the shugodai. No one here takes very kindly to thieves."

At the mention of the shugodai, I tensed. I was willing to take a slap on the wrist for this – no matter how undeserving I was of the punishment – for the sake of accomplishing my goal. However, I was not going to let myself be arrested. Never in my entire lives had I been arrested for anything and I wasn't about to start now. A touch of guilt bled into my expression as I caught the man's eyes. He blinked in confusion and when his lids drew up again, the last he saw of me was my tiny feet slamming again and again into his face.

He didn't yell or make any noise of distress or pain, and I was mildly impressed by that. Thankfully, he did drop the both of us. Minato had taught me how to land from a high drop, so I managed to land on my feet. The boy was not as lucky or prepared as me, and fell on his bottom. Without thought, I reached for him, snatching his skinny wrist with my fingers and yanking him upright. He stuttered something, a question or a complaint. It didn't matter, since I wouldn't have heard it anyway. I was too focused on running away and saving the boy in the process to let him distract me.

We ran for a long time, or at least, it felt like a long time to me. The adrenaline from the confrontation soon wore out, leaving me with the bone weary exhaustion I had already been feeling before the whole altercation began. Soon, it was all I could do to just stay upright and put one foot in front of the other. My hand had fallen away from the boy's wrist, and yet he remained, matching my pace as he hovered at my shoulder. The weaving and wobbling started again, so he put each of his hands on my arm and back to steady me.

"Are you- Are you okay?" he asked timidly, his fingers twitching.

"No," I answered honestly, feeling no need to try and play tough. "Gonna fall asleep."

"O-Oh," he stuttered out in a breath.

"Put me somewhere I won't get rained on?" I plead softly, leaning into him and looking up into his face. His eyes were wide open in shock. (And what a lovely shade of lavender they were.) "Before you leave? S'Okay if you go. Jus' wanna be dry when I sleep."

Yet again I didn't hear what he tried to say to me. I was already out cold.

I hoped I'd be dry when I woke.

* * *

It might not have been warm, wherever I when I regained consciousness, but I was relieved to find that I wasn't being rained on. It was a challenge finding a place to sleep away from that particularly lovely aspect of the elements. Just because I was a little hobo now didn't mean I was willing to catch up on my beauty rest in the downpour. I'd probably wake up with hypothermia or something.

Once I got over how happy I was that I was dry, I realized I wasn't alone. My eyes were drawn first to the boy from before. He was seated beside me, his hood pulled back and his head tilted downward, causing his red hair to obscure his face. My attention was soon drawn to another boy, who stood not very far away. It was hard to ignore him not only because of the shock of bright orange (Orange!) hair on his head, but the fact that he was doing all kinds of yelling. It took me a moment to figure out that he was yelling very loudly at the other boy.

"-an't keep her here! She can't stay! I told Konan last time when she brought _you _that we can't deal with another person to look out for!" he yelled, waving his arms wildly in my direction.

"I-I'm sorry. I just couldn't leave her. Not after she s-saved me even though I got her in trouble…"

"Wasn't it her fault?" the bright haired boy insisted. "If she hadn't bumped into you, you wouldn't have gotten caught in the first place!"

"But…"

"No, you and your dog were supposed to be it. We can't keep taking in strays!"

"Hey."

My head snapped in the direction of a third voice. I hadn't even realized there was someone else in the room. A girl with blue hair (Blue!) and slate grey eyes that stared curiously back at me, was seated on my other side across from the red haired boy.

"The stray is awake."

"Eh?!"

The boy at my side started and looked at me. I found a mix of relief and nervousness in his expression. I couldn't help but smile at him, and my smile only widened when it took the edge off the apprehensiveness I saw in him.

"Didn' leave me in the rain," I said, inwardly wincing at how tired my voice sounded. "Yer nice. Thanks."

His blush was the same color as his hair.

"Oi!" The orange haired boy's outburst forced all of us to look at him again. With a petulant frown on his face, he shoved a finger in my face. I went cross-eyed staring down at it. "Who are you? If you don't tell me, I won't be as nice and I'll toss you out in the rain!"

He withdrew his finger, crossed his arms over his chest, and glared at me. It would probably irreparably damage his pride if I laughed at him.

"'Mm Nanako." After a moment of consideration, I asked, "Who're you?"

"You don't get to ask questions here!" he exclaimed.

"He's Yahiko," the blue haired girl stated plainly, interrupting the boy. "And that's Nagato," she pointed at the boy at my side, who was still blushing and looked away, "And I'm Konan."

"Konan!" Yahiko sputtered.

"Yahiko," she returned pleasantly.

"Nagato-san?" I said, shifting my gaze to the boy I was addressing. When he finally looked back, I gave him an encouraging smile which managed to draw a tiny one out of him. My small moment of triumph was interrupted when I felt the most peculiar sensation on my right hand. It was wet, warm, and rough, and I jerked my hand away in surprise.

"Oh. And that's Chibi," Konan chimed in, pulling a shiba inu into her lap.

"Oi, oi!" Yahiko yelled again. "Konan, stay out of this!" Then he turned back to me. "And you! Don't you have some place to go back to? Or are you…" he faltered for a second. "Are you on your own too?"

Everyone sobered at his question. The hint of playfulness I'd sensed in Konan and the slowly growing ease in Nagato were quashed. Even the dog could sense the mood and put his head to his paws and flattened his ears to his skull. Carefully, I opened my mouth to answer his question.

"Have a place, but… 'Mm very far from home. Don' know the way back."

"Where is your home?" Konan asked.

"Konoha."

The name sent an unexpected twinge of longing through me. I guess five years was enough to make a place your home. I watched all three of the kids carefully, searching for any out of ordinary reactions. The lack of reaction, in Nagato at least, sent up a warning bell.

"Konoha?" Yahiko's face scrunched. "Isn't that in the Land of Fire or something? How the heck did you end up in Rain?"

I chucked nervously. We'd gotten to the interesting part it seemed.

"I was kidnapped."

"What?!" All three of them exclaimed, before descending into a cacophony of noisy demands that I explain myself.

With a strained smile, I took a breath and told them.

* * *

My story was that I had been kidnapped from home by some missing nin and brought to Rain. Konan, the most intuitive of the lot, was the one to ask why I had been taken in the first place. It wasn't a lie to say I was the daughter of a politician. They needn't know that it was a politician as important as the Hokage. Yahiko and Nagato had both wanted to know how exactly I had gotten away from my captors. So I then told them the missing nin who had kidnapped me had almost made it safely to the rendezvous with their employer in Rain when they had had an unfortunate, violent run in with another group of ninja. In the chaos, I had managed to free myself and run away. Everything was honestly, if not easily, explained. I hadn't said anything untrue.

His plan had been perfect, really.

Still.

Something I couldn't put into words was the memories of the blood and the fear. Seeing a dead body was different, so different, in comparison to seeing someone being killed right in front of me. Even if I knew it was going to happen, that everything had been planned down to every detail, I couldn't have prepared myself for it. That man had promised me that I would be safe and yet I. Couldn't. Stop. Remembering.

Blood. Fear. And a kunai at my neck that could have bled me dry if the missing nin holding it hadn't been cut down before he followed through.

It was the first time I'd seen battle, the first time I'd seen death, and I needed some damn time to be traumatized about it. There was no well-intentioned desire to keep these kids ignorant from the darkness of the world.

Nagato, I knew, had already lived through worse, and there was no telling what Yahiko and Konan had seen. To think that way would be an insult to them. No, I was being utterly selfish. I wanted to keep it to myself and wallow in my misery and horror. I wanted to feel sorry for myself.

I was in the cold and wet Land of Rain on a crazy pseudo-infiltration mission thing where I had seen people die and almost died myself. I deserved to feel sorry for myself.

What the hell had I let Danzo talk me into, really?

When I was done talking, Yahiko had pointblank declared me a liar. It was a pleasant surprise when Konan and Nagato attempted to defend me, though I couldn't tell if it was for my benefit or simply to chastise the orange haired boy for his bad manners. Konan, the sly girl, had then suggested it be put to vote whether I could stay. Yahiko had fumed when he lost the vote three to one. ("Even the dog?!")

Yahiko went on to spend the first couple weeks I was with them sulking and snapping at me. He was none too pleased with Konan or Nagato either, but Konan could get away with anything, it seemed, and Nagato was pitiable enough to forgive after enough groveling. The bright haired boy had decided that if I stayed with them, I would have to earn my keep and the best way to punish me was to give me the hardest jobs.

Really, I wanted to like the boy, but it was like wanting to like Kushina.

The boy got a kick out of putting me in charge of Chibi. Maybe once upon a time I considered myself a bit of an animal lover, but that was mostly because I was never a pet owner. Fuzzy things were easy to admire and adore from afar, but up close, not so much. Chibi, with his doggy grin and fluffy tail, became my worst nightmare. Taking care of the dog was like taking care of Aito, but ten times worse. I had to clean up after him whenever he had accidents and the smell never stopped making me sick. Whenever Chibi wanted something, whether it was food, a walk, or just attention, I was the one who had to attend to him. Even if he needed attending to at three in the morning.

My other less stressful yet no less undesirable job included the role of distraction during the necessary thievery. A part of me wanted to refuse to help. Stealing from people who weren't much better off seemed wrong. The guilt only doubled, because as the distraction I actually had to interact with the people we were robbing. Most of them were unpleasant dirt bags, but occasionally we encountered a merchant simply trying to make an honest living. But as the saying went, gotta eat to live, gotta steal to eat. And the real truth of it was that we wouldn't get food any other way. I wasn't about to ask children to starve themselves for my morals. Especially not Nagato.

And speaking of Nagato.

"Ah, Nagato-kun," I said softly, looking away from Chibi to where he stood behind a rock formation. "Ohayou."

He had been there for some time, just watching me. The boy did that a lot. I wasn't sure what his hesitation was caused by. Maybe he was afraid of me. I'm sure seeing a little girl kick a grown man's face in was bound to terrify someone, if it didn't amuse them first. That shouldn't be the case though. Nagato had been glad for the save. If he hadn't been, he wouldn't have brought me back to Yahiko and Konan. It could be that it was just Nagato's natural shyness and lack of confidence that was keeping him from talking to me.

Which, all things considered, wow.

I thought I'd be scared of the boy who would be god, but the fear was easily eclipsed by pity and budding affection because really, he was just a boy. An insecure child who had lost his parents and was still trying to find a place in the world. It was so much easier to forget exactly who he would be than it had been to forget with Orochimaru.

"O-Ohayou N-Nanako-san."

I bit my lip to fight the little giggle I felt coming on. Children hated it when they thought you were laughing at them. It would be so unfair to make Nagato believe I was mocking him for something like a stutter. I still spoke very slowly and occasionally stumbled over my words. I could just as easily be made fun of for such a speech impediment. And frankly, the stutter was adorable. So there we sat, Nagato not knowing what to say and me trying to quell my inappropriate reactions. A couple of seconds of awkward silence passed between us before Chibi broke it, yipping happily and skittering over to Nagato, darting around his ankles.

"May I help you with anything Nagato-kun?" I asked, shifting my body so it faced him entirely and making my tone welcoming and curious.

"Ano…" Patience was a virtue. "I-I saw you, the other day…"

"You saw me, what?" I watched my tone. No accusation or suspicion, just curiosity.

"You looked like you were dancing," he murmured, almost as if to himself. "But you were kicking and punching too. What was that?"

"Dancing?" I whispered to myself before raising my voice. "It was a kata."

Training while stranded in Rain had become easier. Easier in that, because I had nothing better to do and the others only occasionally talked to me, training became the only form of entertainment I could indulge in. Some days, I'd practice all of my katas until I collapsed, Chibi watching me in the simultaneously curious and disinterested way only animals watching people could pull off. Kanda-sensei would be so proud of me when I showed him how far I'd come in our next testing session, though. I was actually able to touch my chakra. If I wasn't too exhausted by my stamina training, I'd place my hands and bare feet against any surface, horizontal or vertical, and stick them to it with chakra. Besides the "sticky hands" chakra training, I was also playing around with standing on puddles. The most I had accomplished so far was a fleeting moment of resistance before I felt the despicably familiar sensation of wet ankles.

"What's a kata?" he asked, nervous but determined.

I took a minute to think of a way to explain it before answering.

"It's like practice fighting. You learn how to do the kicking and the punching like you're remembering steps of a dance. Once you memorize it, you can start using those kicks and punches in fights," I relayed to him, trying to keep it simple.

He, thankfully, seemed to have followed what I had said. Unsurprisingly, the next thing out of his mouth was, "Can you show me how?" He flushed, having blurted it out, and quickly followed with, "The kata, I mean. Only if you want to. You-you don't have to."

This is what I liked about Nagato, how simple he made it for me to work with him. The boy was starved for human contact, part because of the loss of his parents and part because he hadn't truly bonded with the other two orphans yet. I would've felt worse about exploiting that weakness like that, if not for the fact that I craved contact too. With Yahiko disgusted by my very existence and Konan mostly indifferent to me, Nagato had been my last hope for trying to reach out to the orphans.

"I'll show you," I told him, and he smiled at me as if I had promised to tear a hole in the clouds so he could see the sun.

It was my turn to turn red.

"C'mon," I beckoned, and he along with Chibi followed me.

The orphans and I were currently squatting in what used to be an old textile factory before something, or someone, had gone and collapsed half of the building. What was left of the structure was spacious, if drafty. The kids used the room to play and loaf around while I used it for practice. Yahiko and Konan were there, engrossed in some something and didn't pay Nagato, Chibi or I any attention. Somewhere towards the middle, I stopped, bringing the other two to a halt behind me.

"I'm gonna do the first kata," I said to Nagato, turning to face him as I put my hands behind my back and placed my feet at shoulder length apart. "Just watch for now. I'll have you do it with me next time, 'kay?"

"Un."

A breath was pulled into my lungs as I readied myself. _Zanshin_ or _mushin_? Another breath and I nodded to myself as I decided on _mushin_. (Tranquil as a forest.) After a beat of standing still, my feet slid together and my arms clapped against my sides. I bent slightly at the waist in a bow as I clasped my hands at my front. And then I set myself to the pace of the kata.

Left step, strike. Right step, strike. Pivot step, low strike. Left step, strike. Pivot step, low strike.

I barely registered the soft crack and pop sounds the joints of my arms made as they struck through air.

Step, strike, step strike, step strike. Pivot turn step, low strike. Right step, high strike. Pivot step, low strike. Pivot step, high strike.

"_Kiai!_" The sound was expelled sharply from my diaphragm as I punched.

Vaguely, I could make out a scuffle and a gasp, but it drifted out of my mind as quickly as it came.

Right step, strike. Left step, strike. Right step, strike. Pivot turn step, low chop. Right step, strike. Pivot step, low strike. Left step, strike.

There was stillness. Then I slid my feet back together and my hands clasped loosely at my front. Slowly, my arms returned to my sides and I bowed again. And then I was back in starting position, my hands behind my back and my feet spread once more.

The almost meditative calm I'd let claim me slipped away as I took another breath and looked at my audience. Which had managed to double while I hadn't been looking. Nagato and Yahiko stared at me in stunned silence as Konan clapped her hands together in polite applause. Chibi barked and I assumed it meant either, "Neato!" or "There's a spot on my back I can't reach, itch please!" in dog-speak. The sound seemed to snap the boys out of their reverie. Or at least, it did Yahiko.

"What the heck was that?"

"A kata. Practice for fighting," I explained.

His nose wrinkled before he asked, "Why would a girl like you know anything about that?"

"Because I'm going to be a ninja," I answered, holding back the righteous rant that wanted out after that "girl" comment.

"Pah," Yahiko scoffed, trying to hide the flash of something in his expression when I said that, "Street rats don't become ninja." He glared at me. "This is dumb. I'm going out." He gave Konan a look. "Don't follow me."

And then he turned on his heel and left the hideout. If he had moved any faster, he would've been running away.

"Are w-we still going to, y-you know?" Nagato finally asked, unsure and fidgety.

"If you still wanna," I said, shrugging off the confrontation with Yahiko.

Finding out you couldn't make everyone like you was a lesson hard learned in every life. I could charm most people with manners, random acts of kindness, and my quirks, but there some who didn't care about any of it. Danzo would probably always see those traits as a weakness of character. Kushina would always see it as a lie because I was that idiot girl who made fun of her. And Yahiko? I had an idea as to what about me was setting him off, but it wasn't something I could change or make better overnight.

There were only so many times you could psychoanalyze a child like him before you had to just quit while you were ahead and focus on what you had in front of you. There was a still very eager Nagato, and a Konan, who was a little disheartened by Yahiko snapping at her and looked like she needed a distraction. I pushed and tugged at them until they stood at either side of me towards the center. It was strange seeing Konan and Nagato with swapped dispositions, sullen and cheery respectively.

"So watch my movements, and follow along, young grasshoppers," I told them, slipping into the beginning stance.

"Grasshoppers?" Nagato echoed as Konan mused, "Young?"

"I'm trying to sound wise," I pouted, before breathing and slipping into _zanshin_ this time to monitor and correct any mistakes in their form. "Now follow me."

* * *

More weeks passed, and it seemed my routine now included teaching Nagato and Konan stuff. To say that I was happy was an understatement. The Land of Rain still sucked, but I was over the moon about teaching again. The memories felt so far away now, but I could recall the joy I felt when I helped students during my volunteer teacher stint. My life had become integrating my existence into the plot of a fictional TV show, but my passion for teaching had thankfully never left me. It was comforting to know I could still feel that way about something from my other life. Sometimes, I felt like I had forgotten too much.

One thing I made clear to them was that fighting wasn't going to be the only thing they'd learn about. Finding out that Nagato could barely read and that Konan couldn't at all made me furious and sad. Immediately after the discovery, I made lesson plans that included teaching them the basics of reading, mathematics, world history, and anything else I deemed necessary. Their enthusiasm to soak up everything I offered certainly made my attempts to educate them easier. The only thing that ever got in the way of lessons was food runs. Yahiko had stopped making me the primary distraction, something I was grateful for, but it seemed that he hadn't done it for me.

I was alone in the hideout. Well, not so alone if Chibi was to be considered. Yahiko had dragged Nagato and Konan off almost an hour ago for a heist. When I had stood to follow, he told me that I had to stay and take care of Chibi. Which no longer made any sense because the shiba inu could clearly take care of itself. Chibi was freakishly intelligent for a dog that wasn't an Inuzuka dog born and bred. Leaving us behind was a waste.

Seriously, Yahiko and I were starting to act like a divorced couple trying to steal time with the kids from the other.

I leveled my glare at Chibi.

"You're the red-head stepchild no one wants," I informed him nastily.

He just barked happily in response. I pretended that he said something rude in return so that I wouldn't feel like such a bastard. My bratty mood was broken when I heard footsteps coming through the door. My eyes swiveled in that direction and I saw a soaking wet Yahiko and Nagato come in. There was a large lumpy sack carried between the two of them.

"Apples this time?" I asked as they set it down. Yahiko grunted something unintelligible while Nagato pulled the mouth of the sack open and pulled out a piece of the spoils.

"Peaches," he told me, a pleased smile curling his lips. "Would you like one Nanako-san?"

"Yes please!" He tossed it over and I caught it, not even bothering to check for firmness as I took a bite. "Dank oo!"

"Good?"

"Mmm." I nodded.

It was actually a little bruised and mealy. I'd certainly had better, but you really couldn't be choosy in Rain. What I'd learned over time with these three was that your meals mainly consisted of stolen bread and root vegetables. Fruit was a luxury because it had to be imported from places with better growing climates.

_Like Konoha, _I thought to myself before taking a second bite then a quick third to distract myself.

"Is Konan back yet?" Yahiko asked, drawing both my and Nagato's attention to him.

"No," I answered, swiping at my mouth with the back of my hand. "Was she supposed be?"

"Yeah, she was the distraction today," he explained, seeming too caught up in his concern for Konan to realize he was having an almost civil conversation with me. "You're usually the first one back here whenever that's your job."

"Should we go out and look for her?" Nagato glanced back and forth between Yahiko and I.

"Nagato and I can't," the orange haired boy said, biting his thumb nail, "They'll be looking for us."

"Then Chibi and I can go," I offered.

"But Nanako-san!" Nagato began to protest

"The last time someone came home late after being the distraction was when you got grabbed," Yahiko reminded the two of us grimly. "If Konan's in trouble and Nagato and I can't go, then it's gotta be you, Nanako. You can take care of yourself. And Konan." It sounded as if it pained him to say so.

"I will." I nodded and then patted my thigh loudly. At the signal, Chibi came bounding over to stop at my ankles and I looked down at him. "You up to it, dog?" The bark in response was easily interpreted as a yes.

"Be home soon," I told both the boys, trying especially to soothe Nagato, "Take care of each other." And chuckling to myself, I shot a faux glare at Yahiko and said jokingly to Nagato, "Don't let Yahiko eat all the peaches while we're gone, or else Konan won't get any."

"Hey!" Yahiko exclaimed at my back as Chibi and I walked away, "I'm not a pig like you are!"

I was out the door and breaking into a run the next minute. Chibi was easily keeping pace with me. My lips twitched in annoyance at the fact that had we been anywhere but Rain, it would have been child's play trying to find her with a dog to sniff her out. Seriously, what I wouldn't give for an Aburame or a Hyuuga right now, unhampered by the limits set by the weather.

"Konan-san!" I yelled, hoping she'd hear me. The only response I got was random people on the street glaring at me. "Konan-san!"

It was sheer, dumb luck that I glimpsed a flash of blue out of the corner of my eye. Whipping around to see whatever it was more clearly, I confirmed it was her. Chibi and I started to follow, and I quickly shot Chibi a stay-quiet-or-die look. She didn't look hurt or upset, which eased away some of my anxiety. But even if she was calm, smiling even, I didn't like the look of who she was with. It was a man and a woman. The woman was uncommonly beautiful and much too well-dressed for Rain. The man had a confident gait and a bored look on his face as he held an umbrella over the woman and Konan. My heart leapt into my throat when I noticed what hung at his hip.

Katana.

There was a small part of me that was excited, because this was the first samurai I had ever seen in real life ever. They were supposed to be rare in Hidden Villages. After all, why hire a samurai with when you could hire ninja? Rain, however, didn't have a stable ninja system. They Hanzo, who was little more than a bully. It made some sense that towns farther from his sphere of influence would find hiring samurai a better alternative. I watched the samurai more closely and I could tell he was good. The way he moved reminded me a lot of how ninja back home did.

I turned my attention back to the woman who was most likely his employer. The samurai was only as dangerous as the person he was contracted to. Immediately, I was bothered by how touchy she was getting with Konan. If it was me and I wasn't worried about the samurai, I would have tried to bite her hand off. Her silk kimono was loose around her, showing off an almost inappropriate amount of neck, shoulder and cleavage. And her eyes.

Eyes could tell you a lot about a person. The samurai's eyes said he was a warrior. The woman's eyes said she was a liar.

She smiled at Konan kindly, but her eyes were hungry as they roved Konan's face as the girl looked up at her wearing a lovely smile of her own.

I needed to get Konan the fuck away from that woman ASAP.

There was no way I could just kick people in the face and run like I had done when "saving" Nagato. The samurai would easily overpower or outrun us if it came to that. I had to be smarter than the woman, because she was the one I needed to outsmart. I would have to move fast too, because I could recognize the side of town we were crossing into and it was not the side of town good boys and girls wanted to get caught in. Taking a breath, and giving Chibi a stay-here-please look, I charged.

"KONAN-NEE!" I yelled, running up to blue haired girl and latching onto her arm.

The samurai was surprised but not taken off guard by my sudden appearance. He regarded me carefully as he adjusted the umbrella to now cover the woman, Konan, and me. The woman looked at me calculatingly. Konan eyed me with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

"Konan-chan," the woman said in a honey sweet voice, "Who is this?"

"This is one of my friends, Datura-neesan," Konan informed her hesitantly.

"What's your name little one?" she asked as she turned to me.

"I'm Nana and I'm…" I made a show of counting on my fingers, smothering an internal gag, "Five! Isn't that big?"

"Why yes it is, Nana-chan," she told me, her tone sliding into condescending.

"You know, you're really pretty!" I chirruped, before scrunching my forehead. "Are you Konan-nee's neesan now?"

"I am," she replied, dipping her head in a graceful nod.

"Oh." I bobbled my head dumbly, which got me a funny look from Konan. "Does that mean you're my neesan too?"

"If you'd like me to be," the woman, Datura, replied indulgently.

"Oh, oh, oh, I get to have such a pretty neesan too!" I winced internally, feeling like maybe I was hamming it up a bit too much. Thankfully, the Datura woman seemed to be eating the flattery and airheaded shtick up. The wonders of being five, I guess. "But Konan-nee and I hafta go home now."

"Oh must you?" Datura asked, subtly glancing back at the samurai, "You could always stay. I've been enjoying Konan's company very much, and you are quite wonderful to talk to as well."

"But we have friends waiting for us at home!" I whined, "They'll get mad at me if we're late!"

"More friends?" The calculating gleam was back in her eyes. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you're a little late."

"Oh no, no, no, they will, they will!" I insisted. "Kushi-no-kaiju-nee always gets mad at me when I'm bad. And Meiko-chan and Tsume-chan like it when we all eat lunch together because it's like family, you know?"

The woman was silent for a time, probably trying to sort through the information babble I had just thrown at her. But her look had only intensified, so much so that the strange feel of it had begun to creep into the twist of her lips. Konan's look had gone from funny to what-the-hell. The samurai thankfully seemed completely tuned out of the conversation.

"My, you two seem to have so many friends. How nice."

I nodded my head vigorously as my eyes caught Konan's. I was desperately signaling her to not contradict anything I said or did. Thankfully, Konan seemed to understand something was up thanks to my outrageous lying. She was starting watch the Datura woman more closely. I could've sobbed in relief at the fact she trusted me enough to not blow my plan. I knew what this woman was now, and there was only one way to trick her.

"We hafta go now," I repeated, trying to sound petulant as shuffled my feet impatiently. "I'm getting so hungry and Kushi-nee might not let me have any dessert if we're late!"

"I certainly wouldn't want you to get in trouble then," Datura demurred before adding, "But I was wondering if the both of you would like to join me for dinner tonight? It will be my treat, and you can even invite all of your friends to come along."

"Really?" Both Konan and I exclaimed.

"Really." And then Datura knelt and put one hand on my cheek and the other on Konan's. My skin crawled. "If you bring all of your friends, I may even give you a surprise."

"A surprise?"

"Yes, a surprise, but you have to bring everyone to get it. Kushi-chan, Meiko-chan, _and _Tsume-chan. We'll all meet here when the sun goes down and have dinner together." She patted our cheeks. "So what are you going to do?"

"Bring everyone here so we can have dinner and a surprise!" I answered in faux excitement. I reached out, snatching Konan's hand and tugging at her. "Come on Konan-nee, let's go tell the others!"

And then we were scampering off. I threw a, "bye pretty lady," over my shoulder but didn't bother with any further acting. We needed to get home so I could tell the boys that Konan was not allowed to ever be left alone outside of the hideout _EVER_ again.

"Nanako, what was that about?" I heard Konan ask faintly. I didn't bother answering. We needed to get home.

* * *

Once we were back at the hideout, I was barraged by shouts of relief, questions, and ankle bites. Yahiko and Nagato had been happy to see Konan retrieved without a scratch. Konan was bursting with curiosity over the ridiculous show I'd just put on. And Chibi was expressing his outrage at being left behind. When everything settled down, I was faced with the difficult task of explaining to the boys and Konan exactly what I suspected Datura had had planned for her.

Konan didn't cry, but it was a close thing. She'd gone paler than I'd thought someone from sunless Rain could get, and walked away to have a couple minutes to herself, though she didn't leave the hideout. We wouldn't have let her. That left me with the boys. Nagato was being an even quieter version of himself. And Yahiko?

"How could someone do that to another person? What's wrong with this country?" the orange haired boy raged, standing, swinging his fists and kicking at debris on the ground. "I hate this place! I hate it!"

"It's not the place Yahiko-san," I said quietly, looking away. "It's people. No one is perfect. People can do some awful things, for reasons we don't like."

"People like that," Yahiko muttered, "People who hurt other people, people that start stupid wars and stomp on people like us. Someone should make them suffer like we suffer. Maybe then they'd understand what they're doing wrong. Maybe then it would stop."

I blinked.

"But who could do that?" Nagato asked, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Kami," I answered before I realized it, and clapped a hand to my mouth in shock.

"What did you say?" Yahiko said.

"I-" I choked. "I said Kami. Only Kami could make it stop."

"Then I will become Kami." I couldn't help but glance back, and I saw Yahiko standing there, eyes ablaze with magnificence and promise. "I'll make it stop. I'll stop 'em all. I'll even stop the rain."

I couldn't bear to saying anything else, realizing what I had just done. The more I said, the more likely I would say something wrong. I stood, brushing past Yahiko and pausing slightly to touch Nagato's arm reassuringly, before going to Konan. The girl was lying on her side, curled up into fetal position.

"Konan-san?" She didn't respond. "Konan-san, are you alright?" When she didn't answer I scooted over to her.

"Can I do something?"

She lay still for a couple minutes before I saw her head move just a fraction. Taking it as a yes, I crawled over to her head and, slowly and gently, shifted it into my lap. I pulled her hair free from the bun she usually kept it in and began to comb my fingers through it. Her body had been tense at first, but with every stroke of my fingers, she relaxed.

"My kasan did something like this for me," I told her. "A long time ago. I used to have really long pretty hair, and she'd brush it, because it felt so nice and I loved it."

"It's nice," Konan sighed, so softly I barely caught it.

"Do you want me to tell you a story?" I asked her. "It'll help you sleep."

"I don't think so," she whispered. "But you can tell one me anyway."

"This is the tale of four children, caught up in a war they didn't understand," I explained, before beginning.

_Once upon a time, four siblings, Kou, the oldest boy, Yuri, the oldest girl, Kei, the youngest boy, and Hikari, the youngest girl, were sent away from their war torn country to safety with their uncle. One day, the four of them stumbled upon door in their uncle's house that magically took them to another country._

_However, war had touched this place too. An evil summoner queen ruled over the country and with a terrible jutsu, made it always rain in the country._

Konan shivered. I heard rather than saw Nagato and Yahiko come to join us and winced. I didn't know if I wanted to let them hear this. It was meant for Konan.

_The queen knew of a prophecy that foretold the coming of four who would be kings and queens. They would put an end to her eternal rain and bring sunlight back to the country. Fearful of the prophecy, she sent out her bloodthirsty samurai and wolf summons to kill the children. But the children were not without protectors in the world._

_A great sage, awoken by the arrival of the chosen ones, came to their aid. A call went out to the people of the country to rally to the chosen. When the call was sounded, the people came._

This had started as a story I remembered, but somehow, it was changing. I was changing it.

_The sage would train the children for the mighty battle they would fight against the queen. Kou would be the sword, Yuri the mind, Kei the shield, and Hikari the healer. They would struggle through loss, temptation, and betrayal amongst themselves. But the bond between brothers and sisters would not be broken, even by betrayal. In forgiveness, the children would grow stronger and find a greater love for one another._

_Soon, the battle was upon them. With man and woman, with brother and sister, with sage protector, they faced the evil summoner queen. The battle was long and fierce. The evil queen was desperate to crush what light still dared to shine through the clouds of misery. Together, however, the children prevailed over the queen. Her evil jutsu was undone._

_When sunlight once more touched the country, they were finally crowned kings and queens. They would be kind and just leaders for many years to come. And when their time was passed, they would return to where they came from, and bring lasting peace to their home as well._

"The end," I finished, running my hand one last time through Konan's hair. I looked up and saw Yahiko and Nagato watching me.

"It was a good story," Nagato finally said.

"Good story," Yahiko echoed with a grunt, which had me gaping at him. His expression became defensive. "What?"

"I didn't expect you to like it," I admitted.

"It's about us isn't it?" When I didn't answer he frowned. "It is. I know it. We'll do it. We'll save this country. We'll make it better. Then you'll never have to leave."

He wandered off before I could even think about saying anything in response.

"Would you leave though?" I heard Nagato ask. He had stayed, knees pulled to his chest and eyes still on me. "You still have a home and a family don't you? Would you go back?"

_And leave us? _went unsaid.

"I have to."

"But if you didn't have to," Nagato pushed, "Would you stay?"

_With us?_

"Maybe."

"I understand," Nagato finally said after the long miserable silence that had followed. "I get it. If my... if my mom and dad were still alive, if Yahiko's and Konan's moms and dads were still alive too, we'd want to go back." There was another long silence before he looked me in the eye. "When you go, will you at least say goodbye?"

"Of course," I promised, causing Nagato to sigh in relief. "Of course I'd say goodbye. And it wouldn't be forever. I'd _have to_ come back to Rain, if only to see if Yahiko-san really does become Kami."

Nagato blinked and then snorted, and the seriousness that had been looming over us dissolved.

"Now go bring me a couple peaches," I told him. "Konan-san might be hungry later."

"Okay." And then he too wandered off.

Once he was gone, I closed my eyes, let my hands fall away from Konan's head, and began to meditate. I needed it. It had been a trying day after all.

* * *

**AN:** My prayers of a better 2013 were answered in a sense that just as I got healthy, I got busy with a new job. School, plus job, plus everything else can put a cramp in a girl's writing. For the longest time, it seemed like the only time I got to spend working on this fic was when I was tuning out of my professor's lectures and writing instead. Btw all of you students who read my work, don't do as I do, I am a bad role model. Thank you everyone for being patient and not trying (or at least not succeeding) in hunting me down holding me at gun point to write.

Comments on chapter: For the kata section, I did some research about forms and kata and stuff. Acknowledgement to Silver Queen, from whom I borrowed the idea of using the shorin-ryu style as a basis for the Konoha basic style. I looked up videos and based the kata motions off of youtube videos.

My character base/inspirations for Datura was a mix of Yumi from _Rurouni Kenshin,_ a bit of Yui from _Fushigi Yuugi, _and Mrs. Coulter from the His Dark Materials trilogy.

As for Nanako's little storytime special? Totally a borrowed and bastardized version of a pre-existing story. Those of you lit savvy individuals would recognize it as the plot of the second installment of The Chronicles of Narnia series, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C. S. Lewis.

Before I end this author's note (essay) with the term's list, I have two SI recs for people interested in them: _Top of the Tree_ by CupcakeLoopy and _Rebirth_ by .ravenclaw. Both are great Sarutobi SIs. (Sarutobi, yeah! Chapter was also beta'd by the wonderful Lone Panda. Love you hun!

**Terms:**  
shugodai: Japanese feudal official. (Where Konoha is fairly mainstream with their Uchiha Military Police, Rain is poorer and has an antiquated law and order system in pace.)  
shiba inu: "brushwood dog" a dog breed (This is the breed I assume Chibi is, though who knows?)  
-san: suffix for respect or reverence  
-kun: suffix usually used for males; or for girls by people who are very familiar with them  
ohayou: informal way to say good morning  
kata: choreographed patterns of movements usually used for martial arts  
zanshin: mental component of kata where one is in an enhanced state of awareness  
mushin: mental component of kata where one has an openness of mind, "no mind," mind is not fixed on an object or thought  
kiai: something like a convergence of your inner energies being physically expressed as a shout  
katana: Japanese style sword  
-chan: suffix used for children, elderly, animals, cute things, etc.  
datura: flower name meaning "charming deceit"  
kaiju: monster  
nee: sister  
Kami: God  
Kou: stone (Peter)  
Yuri: lily (Susan)  
Kei: blessed (Edmund)  
Hikari: light (Lucy)


End file.
